Information acquisition method, information acquisition system, and information acquisition apparatus

ABSTRACT

Provided is a server device ( 101 ) including: a transmitting/receiving section ( 201 ) for receiving, from a household electric appliance ( 102 ), an identifier for identifying the household electric appliance ( 102 ) and an operation status of the household electric appliance ( 102 ); an updating section ( 207 ) for estimating a consumption status of a consumer good using the received operation status so as to update the consumption status of the consumer good stored in a utilization information accumulating section ( 205 ) based on the estimated consumption status of the consumer good; and a determination section ( 206 ) for deciding whether or not to transmit a confirmation message for confirming the consumer good being used with the household electric appliance, based on the updated consumption status of the consumer good.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information obtaining method, aninformation obtaining system and an information appliance for obtaininginformation regarding non-durable consumer goods (hereinafter referredto as “consumer goods”), such as laundry detergents or frozen foods, foruse with household electric appliances installed in a house, such aswashing machines or microwave ovens.

BACKGROUND ART

With a household electric appliance installed in a house having anetwork connection function and being connected to a server deviceoutside the house, the server device can know the utilization status ofthe household electric appliance. For example, a server device canautomatically obtain, from a refrigerator installed in a house, thenumber of times the door has been opened/closed and time information ofthe opening/closing of the door, without accepting an input operationfrom a user. A server device can automatically obtain, from a washingmachine installed in a house, information such as the washing starttime, without accepting an input operation from a user.

Such information obtained during use of household electric appliances isuseful information, for manufacturers manufacturing household electricappliances, for knowing the utilization status of the users, and it hasbeen known that it is helpful for future product improvements ormarketing.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique whereby a washing machinedetermines the type of the detergent put in (“powder syntheticdetergent”, “soap powder”, or “liquid detergent”) so as to put in anamount of disinfectant that is suitable for the type of the detergent.

However, the household electric appliance (washing machine) of PatentLiterature 1 performs the same process for detergents of the same type(e.g., “soap powders”) even if the detergents are of different makers,and is not capable of determining the maker or the product name of aconsumer good (e.g., a detergent) used.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No.2003-19389

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made to solve the problems set forthabove, and an object thereof is to provide an information obtainingmethod, an information obtaining system and an information appliancecapable of appropriately identifying a consumer good used by a user witha household electric appliance.

An information obtaining method according to one aspect of the presentinvention includes: receiving information regarding a consumer goodwhich has been determined as a consumer good actually used by a userwith a household electric appliance; storing, in a first memory section,a consumption status of the consumer good which has been determined as aconsumer good actually used by the user, based on the receivedinformation regarding the consumer good; receiving, from the householdelectric appliance, an identifier for identifying the household electricappliance and an operation status of the household electric appliance;estimating the consumption status of the consumer good using thereceived operation status; updating the consumption status of theconsumer good stored in the first memory section based on the estimatedconsumption status of the consumer good; deciding whether or not totransmit a confirmation message for confirming the consumer good beingused with the household electric appliance, based on the updatedconsumption status of the consumer good; and transmitting theconfirmation message when it is decided that the confirmation message isto be transmitted.

According to the present invention, the consumption status of a consumergood is estimated by using the received operation status; a confirmationmessage is transmitted at a timing when a decision is made based on theestimated consumption status of the consumer good; and informationregarding a consumer good which has been determined as a consumer goodactually used by the user is received as a response to the confirmationmessage. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately identify a consumergood which the user uses with a household electric appliance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a server device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an appliance informationaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a first confirmation messagefor confirming the consumer good being used.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a second confirmation messagefor confirming the consumer good being used and providing discountinformation (e.g., a coupon).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a third confirmation messagefor confirming the consumer good being used and providing a productsample of another consumer good different from the consumer good beingcurrently used.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of consumer good informationaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of user information according toEmbodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationbefore being updated at the start of consumption of a new consumer good,

FIG. 10B is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationafter being updated at the start of consumption of a new consumer good.

FIG. 11A is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationbefore being updated at the start of consumption of a new one of thesame consumer good which has been used,

FIG. 11B is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationafter being updated at the start of consumption of a new one of the sameconsumer good which has been used.

FIG. 12A is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationbefore being updated when updating the consumption status of a consumergood that is already being used,

FIG. 12B is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationafter being updated when updating the consumption status of a consumergood that is already being used.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a household electricappliance according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information applianceaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which theserver device obtains utilization information from a household electricappliance for the first time according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is a first flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a second flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first server deviceaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of sales information accordingto Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second server deviceaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which thefirst server device obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance for the first time according to Embodiment 2 of thepresent invention.

FIG. 23 is a first flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the first server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a second flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the first server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration of a household electricappliance according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which theserver device obtains utilization information from a household electricappliance for the first time according to Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 4 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a configuration of a household electricappliance according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 30 a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which theserver device obtains utilization information from a household electricappliance for the first time according to Embodiment 4 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 5 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a configuration of a server deviceaccording to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example of setting information accordingto Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of apoint-of-use information obtaining system in which a household electricappliance manufacturer and a consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other so as to provide a coupon or a product sample.

FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating a method for connecting together ahousehold electric appliance and a server device.

FIG. 36 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of apoint-of-use information obtaining system in which a household electricappliance manufacturer and a consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other so as to provide a coupon or a product sample.

FIG. 37 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of apoint-of-use information obtaining system in which a household electricappliance manufacturer and a consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other so as to provide setting information for a household electricappliance.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments areexamples of embodying the present invention and are not to restrict thetechnical scope of the present invention.

Embodiment 1

1.1 Configuration of Point-of-Use Information Obtaining System

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. The point-of-use information obtaining system according toEmbodiment 1 of the present invention includes a server device 101, ahousehold electric appliance 102 and an information appliance 103, asshown in FIG. 1 .

The server device 101 is communicatively connected to the householdelectric appliance 102 via a network 105, and is communicativelyconnected to the information appliance 103 via the network 105. Notethat the network 105 is the Internet, for example.

The server device 101 stores a consumer goods list representing a listof consumer goods, and the server device 101 transmits a consumer goodslist in response to a request from the household electric appliance 102and transmits a confirmation message for confirming the consumer goodbeing currently used to the information appliance 103. In addition, theserver device 101 receives, from the household electric appliance 102,and accumulates information regarding the consumer good being currentlyused by the household electric appliance 102.

The consumer good is consumed by the household electric appliance, andthe quantity thereof at the start of consumption is determined inadvance. The consumer good is, for example, a detergent, a fabricsoftener, a frozen food, or the like. Note that other examples of theconsumer good will be given later.

The household electric appliance 102 is communicatively connected to theserver device 101 via the network 105.

The household electric appliance 102 receives the consumer goods listfrom the server device 101, presents the received consumer goods list tothe user, and accepts an input of information regarding a consumer good.The household electric appliance 102 transmits the accepted informationregarding a consumer good to the server device 101.

The information appliance 103 is communicatively connected to the serverdevice 101 via the network 105.

The information appliance 103 receives a confirmation message from theserver device 101, presents the received confirmation message to theuser, and accepts an input of information regarding a consumer good bythe user. The information appliance 103 transmits the acceptedinformation regarding a consumer good to the server device 101.

1.2 Configuration of Server Device 101

Next, a detailed configuration of the server device 101 will bedescribed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the server deviceaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2 ,the server device 101 includes a transmitting/receiving section 201, aconsumer good information storing section 202, a notificationinformation storing section 203, a user information storing section 204,a utilization information accumulating section 205, a determinationsection 206, an updating section 207 and a control section 208.

The server device 101 is implemented by a microprocessor, a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk, and thelike, which are not specifically shown in the figure. The RAM, the ROMor the hard disk stores computer programs, and the functions of theserver device 101 are implemented by the microprocessor operating inaccordance with the computer programs.

Note that the functional blocks of the server device 101, such as thetransmitting/receiving section 201, the consumer good informationstoring section 202, the notification information storing section 203,the user information storing section 204, the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, the determination section 206, the updatingsection 207 and the control section 208, may be typically implemented asa large scale integration (LSI) which is an integrated circuit. Thefunctional blocks may be individually provided in single chips, and asingle chip may include one or more functional block or a part of afunctional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as anintegrated circuit (IC), a system LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI,depending on the degree of integration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ a field programmable gate array (FPGA) which can beprogrammed after the LSI production, or a reconfigurable processor inwhich the connection or the setting of circuit cells inside the LSI canbe reconfigured after the LSI production.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 201

The transmitting/receiving section 201 receives, from the householdelectric appliance 102, a request for a consumer goods list, andappliance information including an identifier (appliance ID) with whichit is possible to uniquely identify the household electric appliance102. The transmitting/receiving section 201 receives, from the householdelectric appliance 102, a request for information regarding a consumergood, and an identifier for identifying the household electric appliance102. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of appliance informationaccording to Embodiment 1. The example of appliance information shown inFIG. 3 indicates that the manufacturer (maker) of the household electricappliance 102 is “Company P”, the appliance category is “washingmachine”, and the appliance ID is “0x123456”. The transmitting/receivingsection 201 receives a part or whole of the appliance information.

The transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to the householdelectric appliance 102, one of the consumer goods lists stored in theconsumer good information storing section 202 that is associated withthe household electric appliance 102. The transmitting/receiving section201 extracts information regarding a consumer good that can be used bythe household electric appliance associated with the identifier from theconsumer good information storing section 202, and transmits theextracted information regarding the consumer good to the householdelectric appliance 102. Alternatively, the transmitting/receivingsection 201 extracts information regarding a plurality of consumer goodsthat can be used by the household electric appliance associated with theidentifier from the consumer good information storing section 202, andtransmits the extracted information regarding the plurality of consumergoods to the household electric appliance 102 as a consumer goods list.A consumer goods list associated with the household electric appliance102 refers to, for example, a list of laundry detergents, fabricsofteners, bleaches, and the like, if the household electric appliance102 is a washing machine, and refers to a list of foods, frozen foods,and the like, if the household electric appliance 102 is a refrigerator.

The transmitting/receiving section 201 receives, from the householdelectric appliance 102, information regarding the consumer good selectedor determined by the user based on the consumer goods list. Thetransmitting/receiving section 201 receives, from the household electricappliance 102, information regarding a consumer good which has beendetermined as a consumer good actually used by the user. Thetransmitting/receiving section 201 also receives information regarding aconsumer good, from the consumer goods list, which has been determinedas a consumer good actually used by the user. Information regarding aconsumer good refers to, for example, the manufacturer name, the productcategory or the product name of the consumer good, or a product ID, orthe like, with which it is possible to identify the product.

The transmitting/receiving section 201 receives, from the householdelectric appliance 102, utilization information, such as the amount ofconsumption of the consumer good used by the user. For example, wherethe household electric appliance 102 is a washing machine, thetransmitting/receiving section 201 receives the amount of consumption ofthe consumer good (laundry detergent) which is measured by the washingmachine itself. The transmitting/receiving section 201 also receives,from the household electric appliance 102, an identifier for identifyingthe household electric appliance 102, and the operation status of thehousehold electric appliance 102. For example, where the householdelectric appliance 102 is a washing machine, the transmitting/receivingsection 201 receives a utilization notification indicating that thewashing machine has been used. The updating section 207 of the serverdevice 101 to be described later calculates the amount of consumption ofthe consumer good based on the standard amount of consumption for asingle use for the consumer good.

The transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to the informationappliance 103, one of notification information (confirmation messages)stored in the notification information storing section 203 that is forconfirming the consumer good being used by the household electricappliance 102.

FIGS. 4 to 6 are diagrams showing examples of confirmation messages.FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a first confirmation messagefor conforming the consumer good being used, FIG. 5 is a diagram showingan example of a second confirmation message for confirming the consumergood being used and providing discount information (e.g., a coupon), andFIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a third confirmation messagefor confirming the consumer good being used and providing a productsample of another consumer good different from the consumer good beingcurrently used.

The transmitting/receiving section 201 receives, from the informationappliance 103, user-input information (a response from the user) for theconfirmation message.

Moreover, the transmitting/receiving section 201 may transmit, to theinformation appliance 103, one of the consumer goods lists stored in theconsumer good information storing section 202 that is associated withthe household electric appliance 102. The transmitting/receiving section201 may transmit, to the information appliance 103, informationregarding a consumer good that can be used by the household electricappliance associated with the identifier extracted from the consumergood information storing section 202. A consumer goods list associatedwith the household electric appliance 102 refers to, for example, a listof laundry detergents, fabric softeners, bleaches, and the like, if thehousehold electric appliance 102 is a washing machine, and refers to alist of foods, frozen foods, and the like, if the household electricappliance 102 is a refrigerator.

The transmitting/receiving section 201 may receive, from the informationappliance 103, information regarding the consumer good selected ordetermined by the user based on the consumer goods list. Thetransmitting/receiving section 201 may receive, from the informationappliance 103, information regarding the consumer good which has beendetermined as a consumer good actually used by the user. Informationregarding a consumer good refers to, for example, the manufacturer name,the product category or the product name of the consumer good, or aproduct ID, or the like, with which it is possible to identify theproduct.

(2) Consumer Good Information Storing Section 202

The consumer good information storing section 202 stores informationregarding consumer goods. The consumer good information storing section202 stores information regarding a consumer good used by a householdelectric appliance while the information is associated in advance withthe type of the household electric appliance. The consumer goodinformation storing section 202 also stores information regarding aplurality of consumer goods.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of consumer good informationaccording to Embodiment 1. The consumer good information shown in FIG. 7includes “appliance category” indicating the type of the appliance withwhich the consumer good is used, “manufacturer name” indicating the nameof the company manufacturing the consumer good, “product category”indicating the type of the consumer good, “product ID” indicating theidentifier with which it is possible to identify the consumer good,“product name” indicating the name of the consumer good, and “volume”indicating the size, or the like, of the consumer good. For example, aplurality of consumer goods are associated with washing machines. Forexample, the consumer good information shown in FIG. 7 indicates thatthe “clothing detergent” manufactured by “Company A” includes a productwhose product ID is “5278” and whose product name is “ATN”, and that thevolume thereof is “1.0 kg”.

(3) Notification Information Storing Section 203

The notification information storing section 203 stores messages to benotified to the user (e.g., a confirmation message). The notificationinformation storing section 203 stores a first confirmation message, asecond confirmation message and a third confirmation message shown inFIGS. 4 to 6 , for example. The notification information storing section203 stores a template of a confirmation message, for example. Aconfirmation message is created by inserting the product name of theconsumer good into the template of the confirmation message.

(4) User Information Storing Section 204

The user information storing section 204 stores information (userinformation) regarding the user who uses the household electricappliance 102 or uses the point-of-use information obtaining system.FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of user information according toEmbodiment 1. The user information shown in FIG. 8 includes “user ID”indicating the identifier with which it is possible to uniquely identifythe user, “family composition” indicating the members of the familyincluding the user, the age of each family member, and the sex of eachfamily member. The user information also includes “appliance ID” foridentifying household electric appliances owned by the user or theuser's family. The user information further includes “informationappliance ID” for identifying the information appliance owned by theuser. For example, it can be seen that the family of the user associatedwith user ID “324-5678” includes four people, and the user owns ahousehold electric appliance associated with appliance ID “0x123456”.

(5) Utilization Information Accumulating Section 205

The utilization information accumulating section 205 accumulatesinformation regarding the utilization of consumer goods for eachhousehold electric appliance. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example ofutilization information according to Embodiment 1. The utilizationinformation shown in FIG. 9 includes “appliance ID” indicating theidentifier for identifying the household electric appliance, “productID” indicating the identifier for identifying the consumer good beingused, “product name” indicating the name of the consumer good beingused, “volume” indicating the size, or the like, of the consumer good,“consumption start date” indicating the date of starting to use theconsumer good, “amount of consumption” indicating the amount of theconsumer good that has been consumed up to the present, and “estimatedremaining amount” indicating the current remaining amount of theconsumer good. For example, the utilization information shown in FIG. 9indicates that the household electric appliance associated withappliance ID “0x123456” is using a consumer good associated with productID “5278” and product name “ATN”, a consumer good associated withproduct ID “88293” and product name “HMG”, and a consumer goodassociated with product ID “74839” and product name “WHT”, and that theestimated remaining amounts of the consumer goods are “50%”, “30%” and“80%”, respectively.

(6) Updating Section 207

The updating section 207 updates the utilization information accumulatedby the utilization information accumulating section 205 based oninformation regarding a consumer good received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201. The updating section 207 stores, inthe utilization information accumulating section 205, the consumptionstatus of the consumer good which has been determined as the consumergood actually used by the user, based on information regarding theconsumer good received by the transmitting/receiving section 201. Theupdating section 207 may update the consumption status of the consumergood stored in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the amount of consumption of the consumer good received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201.

The updating section 207 may estimate the consumption status of theconsumer good by using the operation status received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 so as to update the consumptionstatus of the consumer good stored in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205 based on the estimated consumption status ofthe consumer good. The operation status includes setting informationregarding the operation of the household electric appliance 102, whichis set by the user for the household electric appliance 102 whenoperating the household electric appliance 102. The updating section 207calculates the amount of consumption of the consumer good from thesetting information using a parameter determined in advance according tothe operation of the household electric appliance 102.

The utilization information accumulating section 205 further stores theremaining amount of the consumer good. The updating section 207 mayestimate, as the consumption status, the remaining amount of theconsumer good using the operation status received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 so as to update the remaining amountof the consumer good stored in the utilization information accumulatingsection 205 based on the estimated remaining amount of the consumergood.

FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationbefore being updated at the start of consumption of a new consumer good,and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationafter being updated at the start of consumption of a new consumer good.For example, if the transmitting/receiving section 201 receives, asinformation regarding a consumer good, a manufacturer name “Company A”,a product ID “74839” and a product name “WHT”, the updating section 207updates the utilization information stored in the utilizationinformation accumulating section 205 as shown in FIG. 10 . Now, theconsumption start date is the date when the information regarding theconsumer good is received, when the amount of consumption is 0 ml andthe estimated remaining amount is 100%.

FIG. 11A is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationbefore being updated at the start of consumption of a new one of thesame consumer good which has been used, and FIG. 11B is a diagramshowing an example of utilization information after being updated at thestart of consumption of a new one of the same consumer good which hasbeen used. If the transmitting/receiving section 201 receivesinformation regarding a consumer good that already exists in theutilization information, the updating section 207 updates theutilization information stored in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205 as shown in FIG. 11B.

For example, at the start of consumption of a new one of the same fabricsoftener associated with the manufacturer name “Company A”, the productID “88293” and the product name “HMG” which has already been used, theupdating section 207 updates the consumption start date, the amount ofconsumption and the estimated remaining amount already stored associatedwith the product ID “88293” and the product name “HMG”. Now, theconsumption start date is the date when the information regarding theconsumer good is received, when the amount of consumption is 0 ml andthe estimated remaining amount is 100%.

FIG. 12A is a diagram showing an example of utilization informationbefore being updated when updating the consumption status of a consumergood that is already being used, and FIG. 12B is a diagram showing anexample of utilization information after being updated when updating theconsumption status of a consumer good that is already being used. Theupdating section 207 updates the utilization information accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205 based on theutilization information such as the amount of consumption of theconsumer good received by the transmitting/receiving section 201. Forexample, if the transmitting/receiving section 201 receives utilizationinformation, from the household electric appliance associated with theappliance ID “0x123456”, indicating that 100 g of the clothing detergentassociated with the product ID “5278” and the product name “ATN” hasbeen used, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationstored in the utilization information accumulating section 205 as shownin FIG. 12B. Herein, the amount of consumption is updated to 600 g, andthe estimated remaining amount is updated to 40%.

(7) Determination Section 206

The determination section 206 determines whether or not the estimatedremaining amount included in the utilization information accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205 is less than orequal to a predetermined set value. When it is determined that theestimated remaining amount is not less than or equal to a predeterminedset value, the determination section 206 does nothing. When it isdetermined that the estimated remaining amount is less than or equal toa predetermined set value, the determination section 206 transmits anotification information (confirmation message) via thetransmitting/receiving section 201.

The determination section 206 determines whether or not to transmit aconfirmation message for confirming the consumer good being used, basedon the updated consumption status of the consumer good. Thedetermination section 206 also determines whether or not the updatedremaining amount of the consumer good is less than or equal to apredetermined value. When it is determined that the updated remainingamount of the consumer good is less than or equal to a predeterminedvalue, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits a confirmationmessage for confirming the consumer good being used.

For example, with the utilization information of FIG. 9 , if the setvalue is 30%, the determination section 206 determines that theestimated remaining amount of the consumer good associated with theproduct name “HMG” and the product “88293” is less than or equal to 30%.Then, the determination section 206 transmits the first confirmationmessage, the second confirmation message or the third confirmationmessage shown in FIG. 4 , FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 , for example, via thetransmitting/receiving section 201. The first confirmation message iscomposed of a sentence “Is the fabric softener you are using “HMG”?”,the second confirmation message is composed of a sentence “Isn't thefabric softener “HMG” you are using running low? Now you can obtain agood coupon”, and the third confirmation message is composed of asentence “Isn't the fabric softener “HMG” you are using running low? Nowyou can try a free sample of the fabric softener “SFN””.

The determination section 206 determines whether or not the user input(a response from the user for the confirmation message) received via thetransmitting/receiving section 201 coincides with the utilizationinformation accumulated in the utilization information accumulatingsection 205. That is, the determination section 206 determines whetheror not the consumer good being currently used by the user coincides withthe consumer good included in the utilization information accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205. When it isdetermined that the consumer good being currently used by the usercoincides with the consumer good included in the utilizationinformation, the determination section 206 does nothing. If the consumergood being currently used by the user does not coincide with theconsumer good included in the utilization information, the determinationsection 206 transmits, via the transmitting/receiving section 201, oneof the consumer goods lists stored in the consumer good informationstoring section 202 that is associated with the household electricappliance 102.

For example, if the first confirmation message “Is the fabric softeneryou are using “HMG”?” is transmitted based on the utilizationinformation of FIG. 9 , and a response from the user “Yes” is received,the determination section 206 does nothing. On the other hand, if thefirst confirmation message “Is the fabric softener you are using “HMG”?”is transmitted and a response from the user “No” is received, thedetermination section 206 transmits a consumer goods list via thetransmitting/receiving section 201.

Note that the determination section 206 may determine whether or not theupdated remaining amount of the consumer good is 0. When it isdetermined that the updated remaining amount of the consumer good is 0,the transmitting/receiving section 201 may transmit a confirmationmessage for confirming the consumer good being used.

(8) Control Section 208

The control section 208 implements the functions of the server device101 by managing and controlling the transmitting/receiving section 201,the consumer good information storing section 202, the notificationinformation storing section 203, the user information storing section204, the utilization information accumulating section 205, thedetermination section 206 and the updating section 207 described above.

1.3 Configuration of Household Electric Appliance 102

Next, a detailed configuration of the household electric appliance 102will be described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a household electricappliance according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shownin FIG. 13 , the household electric appliance 102 includes atransmitting/receiving section 301, a display section 302, a utilizationinformation obtaining section 303, an input accepting section 304, anappliance information storing section 305 and a control section 306.

The household electric appliance 102 is implemented by a microprocessor,a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and the like, which are not specificallyshown in the figure. The RAM, the ROM or the hard disk stores computerprograms, and the functions of the household electric appliance 102 areimplemented by the microprocessor operating in accordance with thecomputer programs.

Note that the functional blocks, such as the transmitting/receivingsection 301, the display section 302, the utilization informationobtaining section 303, the input accepting section 304, the applianceinformation storing section 305 and the control section 306, may beimplemented as LSIs which are typically integrated circuits. Thefunctional blocks may be individually provided in single chips, and asingle chip may include one or more functional block or a part of afunctional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as an IC, asystem LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI, depending on the degree ofintegration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ an FPGA which can be programmed after the LSI production, ora reconfigurable processor in which the connection or the setting ofcircuit cells inside the LSI can be reconfigured after the LSIproduction.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 301

The transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the server device101, a request for a consumer goods list, and appliance informationincluding an identifier (appliance ID) with which it is possible touniquely identify the household electric appliance 102. The example ofappliance information shown in FIG. 3 indicates that the manufacturer(maker) of the household electric appliance 102 is “Company P”, theappliance category is “washing machine”, and the appliance ID is“0x123456”. The transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits a part orwhole of the appliance information.

The transmitting/receiving section 301 receives a consumer goods listassociated with the household electric appliance 102 from the serverdevice 101.

The transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the server device101, user-input information accepted by the input accepting section 304for the consumer goods list displayed by the display section 302, i.e.,information regarding the consumer good selected or determined by theuser based on the consumer goods list. Information regarding a consumergood refers to, for example, the manufacturer name, the product categoryor the product name of the consumer good, or a product ID, or the like,with which it is possible to identify the product.

The transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the server device101, utilization information, such as the amount of consumption of theconsumer good obtained by the utilization information obtaining section303. For example, where the household electric appliance 102 is awashing machine, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits theamount of consumption of the consumer good (laundry detergent) which ismeasured by the washing machine itself. The transmitting/receivingsection 301 also transmits, to the server device 101, an identifier foridentifying the household electric appliance 102, and the operationstatus of the household electric appliance 102. For example, where thehousehold electric appliance 102 is a washing machine, thetransmitting/receiving section 301 receives a utilization notificationindicating that the washing machine has been used. The server device 101calculates the amount of consumption of the consumer good based on thestandard amount of consumption for a single use for the consumer good.With a washing machine, the amount of detergent is determined based onthe washing course, the amount of clothing in the wash tub, etc. Thus,the amount of detergent consumed can be calculated once the settinginformation, such as the washing course and the amount of clothing inthe wash tub, is known.

(2) Display Section 302

The display section 302 displays, and presents to the user, a consumergoods list received via the transmitting/receiving section 301. Thedisplay section 302 displays the information regarding a consumer goodreceived by the transmitting/receiving section 301.

(3) Utilization Information Obtaining Section 303

The utilization information obtaining section 303 obtains utilizationinformation such as the amount of consumption of the consumer good. Forexample, where the household electric appliance 102 is a washingmachine, the household electric appliance 102 may include a tank forstoring a laundry detergent in advance, and a sensor for measuring theactually amount of consumption of the laundry detergent which is put andstored in the tank in advance. The utilization information obtainingsection 303 may obtain, as utilization information, informationindicating that the washing machine has been used. That is, theutilization information obtaining section 303 may obtain the operationstatus of the household electric appliance 102.

(4) Input Accepting Section 304

The input accepting section 304 accepts user-input information for theconsumer goods list displayed by the display section 302, i.e.,information regarding the consumer good selected or determined by theuser based on the consumer goods list. The input accepting section 304accepts user's selection of a consumer good actually used from theconsumer goods list displayed by the display section 302.

(5) Appliance Information Storing Section 305

The appliance information storing section 305 stores applianceinformation with which it is possible to uniquely identify the householdelectric appliance 102. The appliance information includes themanufacturer name of the manufacturer who manufactured the householdelectric appliance, the appliance category indicating the type of thehousehold electric appliance, and the appliance ID for identifying thehousehold electric appliance. The example of appliance information shownin FIG. 3 indicates that the manufacturer (maker) of the householdelectric appliance 102 is “Company P”, the appliance category is“washing machine”, and the appliance ID is “0x123456”.

(6) Control Section 306

The control section 306 implements the functions of the householdelectric appliance 102 by managing and controlling thetransmitting/receiving section 301, the display section 302, theutilization information obtaining section 303, the input acceptingsection 304 and the appliance information storing section 305 describedabove.

1.4 Configuration of Information Appliance 103

Next, a detailed configuration of the information appliance 103 will bedescribed.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information applianceaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the information appliance 103 includes a transmitting/receivingsection 401, a display section 402, an input accepting section 403 and acontrol section 404.

The information appliance 103 is implemented by a microprocessor, a RAM,a ROM, a hard disk, and the like, which are not specifically shown inthe figure. The RAM, the ROM or the hard disk stores computer programs,and the functions of the information appliance 103 are implemented bythe microprocessor operating in accordance with the computer programs.

Note that the functional blocks, such as the transmitting/receivingsection 401, the display section 402, the input accepting section 403and the control section 404, may be implemented as LSIs which aretypically integrated circuits. The functional blocks may be individuallyprovided in single chips, and a single chip may include one or morefunctional block or a part of a functional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as an IC, asystem LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI, depending on the degree ofintegration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ an FPGA which can be programmed after the LSI production, ora reconfigurable processor in which the connection or the setting ofcircuit cells inside the LSI can be reconfigured after the LSIproduction.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 401

The transmitting/receiving section 401 receives, from the server device101, a confirmation message with which the household electric appliance102 confirms the consumer good being used.

The transmitting/receiving section 401 transmits, to the server device101, user-input information accepted by the input accepting section 403for the confirmation message displayed by the display section 402, i.e.,a response from the user.

The transmitting/receiving section 401 receives, from the server device101, a consumer goods list associated with the household electricappliance 102.

The transmitting/receiving section 401 transmits, to the server device101, user-input information accepted by the input accepting section 403for the consumer goods list displayed by the display section 402, i.e.,information regarding the consumer good selected or determined by theuser based on the consumer goods list. Information regarding a consumergood refers to, for example, the manufacturer name, the product categoryor the product name of the consumer good, or a product ID, or the like,with which it is possible to identify the product.

(2) Display Section 402

The display section 402 displays, and presents to the user, aconfirmation message received via the transmitting/receiving section401.

(3) Input Accepting Section 403

The input accepting section 403 accepts a user input (a response fromthe user) for the confirmation message displayed by the display section402.

The input accepting section 403 accepts user-input information for theconsumer goods list displayed by the display section 402, i.e.,information regarding the consumer good selected or determined by theuser based on the consumer goods list. The input accepting section 403accepts user's selection of a consumer good actually used from theconsumer goods list displayed by the display section 402.

(4) Control Section 404

The control section 404 implements the functions of the informationappliance 103 by managing and controlling the transmitting/receivingsection 401, the display section 402 and the input accepting section 403described above.

1.5 Operation by which Server Device Obtains Utilization Informationfrom Household Electric Appliance

An example of an operation by which the server device 101 obtainsutilization information from the household electric appliance 102 willbe described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17 .

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which theserver device obtains utilization information from a household electricappliance for the first time according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention.

First, the transmitting/receiving section 301 of the household electricappliance 102 transmits, to the server device 101, a request for aconsumer goods list, and appliance information stored in the applianceinformation storing section 305 (step S1). Note that the timing at whichthe transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits the request for aconsumer goods list and the appliance information to the server device101 is, for example, the timing at which the power of the householdelectric appliance 102 is turned ON for the first time, the timing atwhich a button for requesting a consumer goods list, which is providedon the household electric appliance 102, is pressed, the timing at whichthe household electric appliance 102 is connected to a network for thefirst time, or the like.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives the request for a consumer goods list and the applianceinformation transmitted by the household electric appliance 102 (stepS2).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 extracts, from the consumergood information storing section 202, a consumer good informationassociated with the appliance category included in the receivedappliance information (step S3). Note that the consumer good informationincludes the appliance category, the manufacturer name, the productcategory, the product ID, the product name and the volume. The consumergood information may also include an image of the consumer good.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to the householdelectric appliance 102, the extracted consumer good information as aconsumer goods list (step S4). Note that the consumer goods listincludes at least one piece of consumer good information.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 of the household electricappliance 102 receives the consumer goods list transmitted by the serverdevice 101 (step S5).

Then, the display section 302 displays the consumer goods list receivedby the transmitting/receiving section 301 (step S6). In this process,the display section 302 does not need to display all of the consumergood information, but may display only some of the consumer goodinformation (e.g., the product name) with which it is possible toidentify the consumer good. The display section 302 may also display animage of the consumer good. Thus, the user can more easily select theconsumer good being currently used.

Then, the input accepting section 304 accepts a user input (step S7).The input accepting section 304 accepts selection of a consumer goodbeing currently used by the user from the consumer goods list beingdisplayed. Where the input accepting section 304 is implemented by atouch panel, for example, the user touches the consumer good beingcurrently used by the user from the consumer goods list displayed on thedisplay section 302. Where the input accepting section 304 isimplemented by a button, for example, the user presses a button so as toselect the consumer good being currently used by the user from theconsumer goods list being displayed on the display section 302.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) accepted by the input accepting section 304 (step S8).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) transmitted by the household electric appliance 102 (stepS9).

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the consumer good information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S10). In this process,utilization information associated with the consumer good identified bythe consumer good information received this time is not accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205. Therefore, theupdating section 207 newly stores, in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, utilization information in which the productID, the product name and the volume included in the consumer goodinformation are associated with the appliance ID. In this process, theupdating section 207 uses the date when the consumer good information isreceived from the household electric appliance 102 as the consumptionstart date, “0” as the amount of consumption, and “100%” as theestimated remaining amount value, to be included in the utilizationinformation.

Next, an operation by which the server device 101, which has utilizationinformation already stored therein, obtains utilization information fromthe household electric appliance 102 will be described.

FIG. 16 is a first flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention,and FIG. 17 is a second flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

First, the utilization information obtaining section 303 of thehousehold electric appliance 102 obtains utilization information (stepS21).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, the utilization information obtained by the utilizationinformation obtaining section 303 (step S22).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives the utilization information transmitted by the householdelectric appliance 102 (step S23).

Then, the updating section 207 calculates the remaining amount of theconsumer good based on the utilization information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S24). If the utilizationinformation includes the operation status of the household electricappliance 102, the updating section 207 calculates the remaining amountof the consumer good based on the operation status of the householdelectric appliance 102. Note that if the utilization informationincludes the amount of consumption of the consumer good, the updatingsection 207 calculates the remaining amount of the consumer good basedon the volume of the consumer good and the amount of consumption of theconsumer good. Although the remaining amount of a consumer good inEmbodiment 1 is expressed as a percent, the present invention is notlimited to this, and it may be expressed as a value obtained bysubtracting the amount of consumption of the consumer good from thevolume of the consumer good.

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the utilization information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 and the remaining amount calculated(step S25). In this process, the utilization information associated withthe consumer good identified by the utilization information receivedthis time is already accumulated in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205. Therefore, the updating section 207 updatesthe amount of consumption included in the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205 tothe amount of consumption included in the received utilizationinformation or the amount of consumption calculated from the utilizationinformation. The updating section 207 also updates the remaining amountincluded in the utilization information accumulated in the utilizationinformation accumulating section 205 to the remaining amount calculatedfrom the received utilization information.

Then, the determination section 206 of the server device 101 determineswhether or not the estimated remaining amount of the utilizationinformation accumulated in the utilization information accumulatingsection 205 is less than or equal to a predetermined set value (stepS26). When it is determined that the estimated remaining amount is notless than or equal to a set value (NO in step S26), the determinationsection 206 does nothing and the process ends.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the estimated remainingamount is less than or equal to a set value (YES in step S26), thedetermination section 206 obtains notification information stored in thenotification information storing section 203 (step S27). Thenotification information is a confirmation message for confirming theconsumer good being used. The determination section 206 creates aconfirmation message by reading out a confirmation message stored in thenotification information storing section 203, and inserting the productname included in the utilization information into the read-outconfirmation message.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits the obtainednotification information (confirmation message) to the informationappliance 103 (step S28).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 of the informationappliance 103 receives the notification information (confirmationmessage) transmitted by the server device 101 (step S29).

Then, the display section 402 displays the notification information(confirmation message) received by the transmitting/receiving section401 (step S30).

Then, the input accepting section 403 of the information appliance 103accepts a user input, i.e., a response from the user for theconfirmation message (step S31).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, response information for the confirmation message acceptedby the input accepting section 403 (step S32).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives the response information transmitted by the informationappliance 103 (step S33).

Then, the determination section 206 determines whether or not theconsumer good identified by the utilization information accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205 coincides with theconsumer good being currently actually used by the user based on theresponse information received by the transmitting/receiving section 201(step S34).

That is, if affirmative response information is obtained for theconfirmation message for confirming whether or not the consumer goodidentified by the utilization information accumulated in the utilizationinformation accumulating section 205 coincides with the consumer goodbeing currently actually used by the user, the determination section 206determines that the consumer good identified by the utilizationinformation accumulated in the utilization information accumulatingsection 205 coincides with the consumer good being currently actuallyused by the user. If negative response information is obtained for theconfirmation message, the determination section 206 determines that theconsumer good identified by the utilization information accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205 does not coincidewith the consumer good being currently actually used by the user.

When it is determined that the consumer good identified by theutilization information coincides with the consumer good being currentlyactually used by the user (YES in step S34), the determination section206 does nothing and the process ends.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the consumer goodidentified by the utilization information does not coincide with theconsumer good being currently actually used by the user (NO in stepS34), the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101extracts the consumer good information associated with the appliance IDincluded in the utilization information from the consumer goodinformation storing section 202 (step S35). Note that the consumer goodinformation includes the appliance category, the manufacturer name, theproduct category, the product ID, the product name and the volume. Theconsumer good information may also include an image of the consumergood.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to theinformation appliance 103, the extracted consumer good information as aconsumer goods list (step S36). Note that the consumer goods listincludes at least one piece of consumer good information.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 of the informationappliance 103 receives the consumer goods list transmitted by the serverdevice 101 (step S37).

Then, the display section 402 displays the consumer goods list receivedby the transmitting/receiving section 401 (step S38). In this process,the display section 402 does not need to display all of the consumergood information, but may display only some of the consumer goodinformation (e.g., the product name) with which it is possible toidentify the consumer good. The display section 402 may also display animage of the consumer good. Thus, the user can more easily select theconsumer good being currently used.

Then, the input accepting section 403 accepts a user input (step S39).The input accepting section 403 accepts selection of a consumer goodbeing currently used by the user from the consumer goods list beingdisplayed. Where the input accepting section 403 is implemented by atouch panel, for example, the user touches the consumer good beingcurrently used by the user from the consumer goods list displayed on thedisplay section 402. Where the input accepting section 403 isimplemented by a button, for example, the user presses a button so as toselect the consumer good being currently used by the user from theconsumer goods list being displayed on the display section 402.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) accepted by the input accepting section 403 (step S40).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) transmitted by the information appliance 103 (step S41).

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the consumer good information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S42). In this process,utilization information associated with the consumer good identified bythe consumer good information received this time is not accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205. Therefore, theupdating section 207 newly stores, in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, utilization information in which the productID, the product name and the volume included in the consumer goodinformation are associated with the appliance ID. In this process, theupdating section 207 uses the date when the consumer good information isreceived from the household electric appliance 102 as the consumptionstart date, “0” as the amount of consumption, and “100%” as theestimated remaining amount value, to be included in the utilizationinformation.

Embodiment 2

2.1 Configuration of Point-of-Use Information Obtaining System

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention. The point-of-use information obtaining system according toEmbodiment 2 of the present invention includes a first server device1701, a second server device 1702, the household electric appliance 102and the information appliance 103, as shown in FIG. 18 .

The first server device 1701 is communicatively connected to thehousehold electric appliance 102 via the network 105, and iscommunicatively connected to the information appliance 103 via thenetwork 105. The first server device 1701 is also communicativelyconnected to the second server device 1702. Note that the network 105 isthe Internet, for example. The first server device 1701 may becommunicatively connected to the second server device 1702 via thenetwork 105.

The first server device 1701 receives and stores sales information fromthe second server device 1702. The sales information is informationregarding a consumer good purchased by the user. In response to arequest from the household electric appliance 102, the first serverdevice 1701 selects a consumer goods list associated with the householdelectric appliance 102 based on the sales information to transmit theconsumer goods list, or transmits a confirmation message for confirmingthe consumer good being currently used to the information appliance 103.In addition, the first server device 1701 receives and accumulates, fromthe household electric appliance 102, information regarding the consumergood being currently used by the household electric appliance 102.

The second server device 1702 stores sales information, and transmitsthe stored sales information to the first server device 1701.

Note that the configurations of the household electric appliance 102 andthe information appliance 103 of Embodiment 2 are similar to those ofEmbodiment 1 and will not be described below.

2.2 Configuration of First Server Device 1701

Next, a detailed configuration of the first server device 1701 will bedescribed.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first server deviceaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 19, the first server device 1701 includes the transmitting/receivingsection 201, the consumer good information storing section 202, thenotification information storing section 203, the user informationstoring section 204, the utilization information accumulating section205, the determination section 206, the updating section 207, a salesinformation storing section 1801, a selecting section 1802 and a controlsection 1803.

The first server device 1701 is implemented by a microprocessor, a RAM,a ROM, a hard disk, and the like, which are not specifically shown inthe figure. The RAM, the ROM or the hard disk stores computer programs,and the functions of the first server device 1701 are implemented by themicroprocessor operating in accordance with the computer programs.

Note that the functional blocks of the first server device 1701, such asthe transmitting/receiving section 201, the consumer good informationstoring section 202, the notification information storing section 203,the user information storing section 204, the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, the determination section 206, the updatingsection 207, the sales information storing section 1801, the selectingsection 1802 and the control section 1803, may be implemented as LSIswhich are typically integrated circuits. The functional blocks may beindividually provided in single chips, and a single chip may include oneor more functional block or a part of a functional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as an IC, asystem LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI, depending on the degree ofintegration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ an FPGA which can be programmed after the LSI production, ora reconfigurable processor in which the connection or the setting ofcircuit cells inside the LSI can be reconfigured after the LSIproduction.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 201 to Updating Section 207

The configurations of the transmitting/receiving section 201, theconsumer good information storing section 202, the notificationinformation storing section 203, the user information storing section204, the utilization information accumulating section 205, thedetermination section 206 and the updating section 207 are similar tothose of Embodiment 1 and will not be described below.

(2) Sales Information Storing Section 1801

The sales information storing section 1801 stores information regardinga consumer good that the user has purchased at a retail store, i.e.,sales information regarding a consumer good that the retail store hassold to the user. The transmitting/receiving section 201 receives thesales information transmitted by the second server device 1702, andstores the sales information in the sales information storing section1801. The sales information storing section 1801 stores salesinformation, in which information for identifying the consumer good soldto the user is associated with the type of the household electricappliance with which the consumer good is to be used.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of sales information accordingto Embodiment 2. The example of sales information shown in FIG. 20includes, associated with one another, “user ID” indicating theidentifier for identifying the purchasing user, “purchase date”indicating the date the consumer good was purchased, “product ID”indicating the identifier with which it is possible to identify thepurchased consumer good, “product name” indicating the name of thepurchased consumer good, “unit price” indicating the price per one unitof the purchased consumer good, the “number of units” indicating thenumber of units of the consumer good purchased, and “associatedappliance” indicating the type of appliances with which the purchasedconsumer good is to be used.

The sales information shown in FIG. 20 , for example, indicates that onMar. 3, 2013, the user identified by the user ID “324-5678” purchasedtwo units of the consumer good identified by the product ID “5278” andthe product name “ATN”, purchased two units of the consumer goodidentified by the product ID “11965” and the product name “TYA”, andpurchased one unit of the consumer good identified by the product ID“326” and the product name “JIK”. It is also indicated that theassociated appliance for the consumer good identified by the product ID“5278” and the product name “ATN” is a “washing machine”, indicatingthat it is to be used with a washing machine. It is also indicated thatthe associated appliance for the consumer good identified by the productID “11965” and the product name “TYA” is a “microwave oven”, indicatingthat it is to be used with a microwave oven. It is also indicated thatthe associated appliance for the consumer good identified by the productID “326” and the product name “JIK” is “others”, indicating that it isnot related to household electric appliances.

(3) Selecting Section 1802

Based on the appliance ID included in the appliance information receivedvia the transmitting/receiving section 201, the selecting section 1802identifies the user who uses the household electric appliance associatedwith that appliance ID from the user information stored in the userinformation storing section 204, and selects one of the consumer goodspurchased by that user from the sales information stored in the salesinformation storing section 1801 that is associated with that householdelectric appliance.

The selecting section 1802 selects a consumer good sold to the userbased on the sales information. The transmitting/receiving section 201extracts, from the consumer good information storing section 202,consumer good information regarding the consumer good selected by theselecting section 1802.

(4) Control Section 1803

The control section 1803 implements the functions of the first serverdevice 1701 by managing and controlling the transmitting/receivingsection 201, the consumer good information storing section 202, thenotification information storing section 203, the user informationstoring section 204, the utilization information accumulating section205, the determination section 206, the updating section 207, the salesinformation storing section 1801 and the selecting section 1802described above.

2.3 Configuration of Second Server Device 1702

Next, a detailed configuration of the second server device 1702 will bedescribed.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second server deviceaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 21, the second server device 1702 includes a transmitting/receivingsection 1901, a sales information storing section 1902 and a controlsection 1903.

The second server device 1702 is implemented by a microprocessor, a RAM,a ROM, a hard disk, and the like, which are not specifically shown inthe figure. The RAM, the ROM or the hard disk stores computer programs,and the functions of the second server device 1702 are implemented bythe microprocessor operating in accordance with the computer programs.

Note that the functional blocks of the second server device 1702, suchas the transmitting/receiving section 1901, the sales informationstoring section 1902 and the control section 1903, may be implemented asLSIs which are typically integrated circuits. The functional blocks maybe individually provided in single chips, and a single chip may includeone or more functional block or a part of a functional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as an IC, asystem LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI, depending on the degree ofintegration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ an FPGA which can be programmed after the LSI production, ora reconfigurable processor in which the connection or the setting ofcircuit cells inside the LSI can be reconfigured after the LSIproduction.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 1901

The transmitting/receiving section 1901 receives information regarding aconsumer good purchased by the user transmitted by a cash registerterminal at a retail store, i.e., sales information regarding theconsumer good sold to the user by the retail store, and receivestotalized information (totalized data) obtained by totalizing the salesinformation. The transmitting/receiving section 1901 stores the receivedsales information in the sales information storing section 1902.

The transmitting/receiving section 1901 transmits, to the first serverdevice 1701, sales information stored in the sales information storingsection 1902.

(2) Sales Information Storing Section 1902

The sales information storing section 1902 stores information regardinga consumer good purchased by the user, i.e., sales information regardingthe consumer good sold to the user by the retail store. The example ofsales information shown in FIG. 20 includes, associated with oneanother, “user ID” indicating the identifier for identifying thepurchasing user, “purchase date” indicating the date the consumer goodwas purchased, “product ID” indicating the identifier with which it ispossible to identify the purchased consumer good, “product name”indicating the name of the purchased consumer good, “unit price”indicating the price per one unit of the purchased consumer good, the“number of units” indicating the number of units of the consumer goodpurchased, and “associated appliance” indicating the type of applianceswith which the purchased consumer good is to be used. The salesinformation shown in FIG. 20 , for example, indicates that on Mar. 3,2013, the user identified by the user ID “324-5678” purchased two unitsof the consumer good identified by the product ID “5278” and the productname “ATN”, purchased two units of the consumer good identified by theproduct ID “11965” and the product name “TYA”, and purchased one unit ofthe consumer good identified by the product ID “326” and the productname “JIK”. It is also indicated that the associated appliance for theconsumer good identified by the product ID “5278” and the product name“ATN” is a “washing machine”, indicating that it is to be used with awashing machine. It is also indicated that the associated appliance forthe consumer good identified by the product ID “11965” and the productname “TYA” is a “microwave oven”, indicating that it is to be used witha microwave oven. It is also indicated that the associated appliance forthe consumer good identified by the product ID “326” and the productname “JIK” is “others”, indicating that it is not related to householdelectric appliances.

(3) Control Section 1903

The control section 1803 implements the functions of the second serverdevice 1702 by managing and controlling the transmitting/receivingsection 1901 and the sales information storing section 1902 describedabove.

2.4 Configuration of Household Electric Appliance 102 and InformationAppliance 103

The configurations of the household electric appliance 102 and theinformation appliance 103 of Embodiment 2 are similar to those ofEmbodiment 1 and will not be described below.

2.5 Operation by which First Server Device Obtains UtilizationInformation from Household Electric Appliance

An example of an operation by which the first server device 1701 obtainsutilization information from the household electric appliance 102 willbe described with reference to FIGS. 22 to 24 .

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which thefirst server device obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance for the first time according to Embodiment 2 of thepresent invention.

First, the transmitting/receiving section 301 of the household electricappliance 102 transmits, to the first server device 1701, a request fora consumer goods list and appliance information stored in the applianceinformation storing section 305 (step S51).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the first server device1701 receives the request for a consumer goods list and the applianceinformation transmitted by the household electric appliance 102 (stepS52).

Then, the selecting section 1802 identifies the user ID based on theuser information stored in the user information storing section 204 andthe appliance ID included in the received appliance information, andselects one of the consumer goods purchased by the user that can be usedwith the household electric appliance 102 from the sales informationstored in the sales information storing section 1801 based on theidentified user ID and the appliance category included in the receivedappliance information (step S53).

Note that the first server device 1701 obtains the sales informationfrom the second server device 1702 at a predetermined timing. The secondserver device 1702 transmits the sales information to the first serverdevice 1701 at 12 am everyday, for example. In this process, the secondserver device 1702 transmits un-transmitted sales information to thefirst server device 1701.

The first server device 1701 may transmit, to the second server device1702, request information for requesting sales information at the timingthe request for a consumer goods list is received from the householdelectric appliance 102, and the second server device 1702 may transmitsales information to the first server device 1701 in response to therequest information.

Moreover, at the timing new sales information is obtained, the secondserver device 1702 may transmit the obtained new sales information tothe first server device 1701.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 extracts, from the consumergood information storing section 202, consumer good informationassociated with the consumer good selected by the selecting section 1802(step S54). Note that the consumer good information includes theappliance category, the manufacturer name, the product category, theproduct ID, the product name and the volume. The consumer goodinformation may also include an image of the consumer good.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to the householdelectric appliance 102, the extracted consumer good information as aconsumer goods list (step S55).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 of the household electricappliance 102 receives the consumer goods list transmitted by the firstserver device 1701 (step S56).

Then, the display section 302 displays the consumer goods list receivedby the transmitting/receiving section 301 (step S57). In this process,the display section 302 does not need to display all of the consumergood information, but may display only some of the consumer goodinformation (e.g., the product name) with which it is possible toidentify the consumer good. The display section 302 may also display animage of the consumer good. Thus, the user can more easily select theconsumer good being currently used.

Then, the input accepting section 304 accepts a user input (step S58).The input accepting section 304 accepts selection of a consumer goodbeing currently used by the user from the consumer goods list beingdisplayed. Where the input accepting section 304 is implemented by atouch panel, for example, the user touches the consumer good beingcurrently used by the user from the consumer goods list displayed on thedisplay section 302. Where the input accepting section 304 isimplemented by a button, for example, the user presses a button so as toselect the consumer good being currently used by the user from theconsumer goods list being displayed on the display section 302.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the firstserver device 1701, information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) accepted by the input accepting section 304 (step S59).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the first server device1701 receives information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) transmitted by the household electric appliance 102 (stepS60).

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the consumer good information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S61). In this process,utilization information associated with the consumer good identified bythe consumer good information received this time is not accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205. Therefore, theupdating section 207 newly stores, in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, utilization information in which the productID, the product name and the volume included in the consumer goodinformation are associated with the appliance ID. In this process, theupdating section 207 uses the date when the consumer good information isreceived from the household electric appliance 102 as the consumptionstart date, “0” as the amount of consumption, and “100%” as theestimated remaining amount value, to be included in the utilizationinformation.

Since only consumer goods purchased by the user are presented to theuser, the user can easily select a consumer good to be used from amongthe consumer goods the user actually owns.

Next, an operation by which the first server device 1701, which hasutilization information already stored therein, obtains utilizationinformation from the household electric appliance 102 will be described.

FIG. 23 is a first flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the first server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention,and FIG. 24 is a second flow chart showing an example of an operation bywhich the first server device, which has utilization information alreadystored therein, obtains utilization information from a householdelectric appliance according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

First, the utilization information obtaining section 303 of thehousehold electric appliance 102 obtains utilization information (stepS71). The utilization information may include the appliance categoryindicating the type of the household electric appliance 102, theappliance ID for identifying the household electric appliance 102, theproduct ID for identifying the consumer good, the product name of theconsumer good, and the amount of consumption of the consumer good. Notethat the utilization information may include the appliance category, theappliance ID, the product ID, the product name, and the operation statusof the household electric appliance 102.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the firstserver device 1701, the utilization information obtained by theutilization information obtaining section 303 (step S72).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the first server device1701 receives the utilization information transmitted by the householdelectric appliance 102 (step S73).

Then, the updating section 207 calculates the remaining amount of theconsumer good based on the utilization information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S74). If the utilizationinformation includes the operation status of the household electricappliance 102, the updating section 207 calculates the remaining amountof the consumer good based on the operation status of the householdelectric appliance 102. Note that if the utilization informationincludes the amount of consumption of the consumer good, the updatingsection 207 calculates the remaining amount of the consumer good basedon the volume of the consumer good and the amount of consumption of theconsumer good. Although the remaining amount of a consumer good inEmbodiment 2 is expressed as a percent, the present invention is notlimited to this, and it may be expressed as a value obtained bysubtracting the amount of consumption of the consumer good from thevolume of the consumer good.

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the utilization information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 and the remaining amount calculated(step S75). In this process, the utilization information associated withthe consumer good identified by the utilization information receivedthis time is already accumulated in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205. Therefore, the updating section 207 updatesthe amount of consumption included in the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205 tothe amount of consumption included in the received utilizationinformation or the amount of consumption calculated from the utilizationinformation. The updating section 207 also updates the remaining amountincluded in the utilization information accumulated in the utilizationinformation accumulating section 205 to the remaining amount calculatedfrom the received utilization information.

Then, the determination section 206 of the first server device 1701determines whether or not the estimated remaining amount of theutilization information accumulated in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205 is less than or equal to a predetermined setvalue (step S76). When it is determined that the estimated remainingamount is not less than or equal to a set value (NO in step S76), thedetermination section 206 does nothing and the process ends.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the estimated remainingamount is less than or equal to a set value (YES in step S76), thedetermination section 206 obtains notification information stored in thenotification information storing section 203 (step S77). Thenotification information is a confirmation message for confirming theconsumer good being used. The determination section 206 creates aconfirmation message by reading out a confirmation message stored in thenotification information storing section 203, and inserting the productname included in the utilization information into the read-outconfirmation message.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits the obtainednotification information (confirmation message) to the informationappliance 103 (step S78).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 of the informationappliance 103 receives the notification information (confirmationmessage) transmitted by the first server device 1701 (step S79).

Then, the display section 402 displays the notification information(confirmation message) received by the transmitting/receiving section401 (step S80).

Then, the input accepting section 403 of the information appliance 103accepts a user input, i.e., a response from the user for theconfirmation message (step S81).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 transmits, to the firstserver device 1701, response information for the confirmation messageaccepted by the input accepting section 403 (step S82).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the first server device1701 receives the response information transmitted by the informationappliance 103 (step S83).

Then, the determination section 206 determines whether or not theconsumer good identified by the utilization information accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205 coincides with theconsumer good being currently actually used by the user based on theresponse information received by the transmitting/receiving section 201(step S84).

That is, if affirmative response information is obtained for theconfirmation message for confirming whether or not the consumer goodidentified by the utilization information accumulated in the utilizationinformation accumulating section 205 coincides with the consumer goodbeing currently actually used by the user, the determination section 206determines that the consumer good identified by the utilizationinformation accumulated in the utilization information accumulatingsection 205 coincides with the consumer good being currently actuallyused by the user. If negative response information is obtained for theconfirmation message, the determination section 206 determines that theconsumer good identified by the utilization information accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205 does not coincidewith the consumer good being currently actually used by the user.

When it is determined that the consumer good identified by theutilization information coincides with the consumer good being currentlyactually used by the user (YES in step S84), the determination section206 does nothing and the process ends.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the consumer goodidentified by the utilization information does not coincide with theconsumer good being currently actually used by the user (NO in stepS84), the selecting section 1802 identifies the user ID based on theuser information stored in the user information storing section 204 andthe appliance ID included in the received utilization information, andselects one of the consumer goods purchased by the user that can be usedwith the household electric appliance 102 from the sales informationstored in the sales information storing section 1801 based on theidentified user ID and the appliance category included in the receivedutilization information (step S85).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 extracts, from the consumergood information storing section 202, consumer good informationassociated with the consumer good selected by the selecting section 1802(step S86). Note that the consumer good information includes theappliance category, the manufacturer name, the product category, theproduct ID, the product name and the volume. The consumer goodinformation may also include an image of the consumer good.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to theinformation appliance 103, the extracted consumer good information as aconsumer goods list (step S87).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 of the informationappliance 103 receives the consumer goods list transmitted by the firstserver device 1701 (step S88).

Then, the display section 402 displays the consumer goods list receivedby the transmitting/receiving section 401 (step S89). In this process,the display section 402 does not need to display all of the consumergood information, but may display only some of the consumer goodinformation (e.g., the product name) with which it is possible toidentify the consumer good. The display section 402 may also display animage of the consumer good. Thus, the user can more easily select theconsumer good being currently used.

Then, the input accepting section 403 accepts a user input (step S90).The input accepting section 403 accepts selection of a consumer goodbeing currently used by the user from the consumer goods list beingdisplayed. Where the input accepting section 403 is implemented by atouch panel, for example, the user touches the consumer good beingcurrently used by the user from the consumer goods list displayed on thedisplay section 402. Where the input accepting section 403 isimplemented by a button, for example, the user presses a button so as toselect the consumer good being currently used by the user from theconsumer goods list being displayed on the display section 402.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 401 transmits, to the firstserver device 1701, information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) accepted by the input accepting section 403 (step S91).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the first server device1701 receives information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) transmitted by the information appliance 103 (step S92).

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the consumer good information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S93). In this process,utilization information associated with the consumer good identified bythe consumer good information received this time is not accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205. Therefore, theupdating section 207 newly stores, in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, utilization information in which the productID, the product name and the volume included in the consumer goodinformation are associated with the appliance ID. In this process, theupdating section 207 uses the date when the consumer good information isreceived from the household electric appliance 102 as the consumptionstart date, “0” as the amount of consumption, and “100%” as theestimated remaining amount value, to be included in the utilizationinformation.

Embodiment 3

3.1 Configuration of Point-of-Use Information Obtaining System

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention. The point-of-use information obtaining system according toEmbodiment 3 of the present invention includes the server device 101, ahousehold electric appliance 2501, the information appliance 103 and awireless tag 2502, as shown in FIG. 25 .

The server device 101 stores a consumer goods list representing a listof consumer goods, and the server device 101 transmits a consumer goodslist in response to a request from the household electric appliance 2501and transmits a confirmation message for confirming the consumer goodbeing currently used to the information appliance 103. In addition, theserver device 101 receives, from the household electric appliance 2501,and accumulates information regarding the consumer good being currentlyused by the household electric appliance 2501.

The wireless tag 2502 is provided on a consumer good. For example, thewireless tag 2502 is attached to the package of the consumer good. Thewireless tag 2502 transmits, to the household electric appliance 2501which is a reader, information for identifying the consumer good towhich it is attached.

The household electric appliance 2501 detects information regarding aconsumer good (e.g., a product ID, or the like) from the wireless tag2502 existing in the vicinity thereof, and transmits the detectedinformation regarding a consumer good to the server device 101. Thehousehold electric appliance 2501 receives the detected informationregarding a consumer good (e.g., a product image, or the like) from theserver device 101, presents the received information regarding aconsumer good to the user, accepts a user confirmation (user input)indicating whether or not the presented information regarding theconsumer good is correct, and transmits an accepted user input to theserver device 101.

The information appliance 103 receives a confirmation message from theserver device 101, presents the received confirmation message to theuser, and accepts an input of information regarding a consumer good bythe user. The information appliance 103 transmits the acceptedinformation regarding a consumer good to the server device 101.

3.2 Configuration of Household Electric Appliance 2501

Next, a detailed configuration of the household electric appliance 2501will be described.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration of a household electricappliance according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shownin FIG. 26 , the household electric appliance 2501 includes thetransmitting/receiving section 301, the display section 302, theutilization information obtaining section 303, the input acceptingsection 304, the appliance information storing section 305, a wirelesstag detecting section 2601 and a control section 2602.

The household electric appliance 2501 is implemented by amicroprocessor, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and the like, which are notspecifically shown in the figure. The RAM, the ROM or the hard diskstores computer programs, and the functions of the household electricappliance 2501 are implemented by the microprocessor operating inaccordance with the computer programs.

Note that the functional blocks of the household electric appliance2501, such as the transmitting/receiving section 301, the displaysection 302, the utilization information obtaining section 303, theinput accepting section 304, the appliance information storing section305, the wireless tag detecting section 2601 and the control section2602, may be implemented as LSIs which are typically integratedcircuits. The functional blocks may be individually provided in singlechips, and a single chip may include one or more functional block or apart of a functional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as an IC, asystem LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI, depending on the degree ofintegration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ an FPGA which can be programmed after the LSI production, ora reconfigurable processor in which the connection or the setting ofcircuit cells inside the LSI can be reconfigured after the LSIproduction.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 301 to Appliance Information StoringSection 305

The configurations of the transmitting/receiving section 301, thedisplay section 302, the utilization information obtaining section 303,the input accepting section 304 and the appliance information storingsection 305 are similar to those of Embodiment 1 and will not bedescribed below.

(2) Wireless Tag Detecting Section 2601

The wireless tag detecting section 2601 detects the wireless tag 2502existing in the vicinity thereof, and reads out information embedded inthe wireless tag 2502 (e.g., information for identifying the consumergood, such as the product ID). The communication scheme of the wirelesstag may be a commonly-employed communication scheme, and will not bedescribed herein. The detected (read-out) information for identifyingthe consumer good, such as the product ID, is transmitted to the serverdevice 101 by the transmitting/receiving section 301.

(3) Control Section 2602

The control section 2602 implements the functions of the householdelectric appliance 2501 by managing and controlling thetransmitting/receiving section 301, the display section 302, theutilization information obtaining section 303, the input acceptingsection 304, the appliance information storing section 305 and thewireless tag detecting section 2601 described above.

3.3 Configuration of Server Device 101 and Information Appliance 103

The configurations of the server device 101 and the informationappliance 103 of Embodiment 3 are similar to those of Embodiment 1 andwill not be described below.

3.4 Operation by which Server Device Obtains Utilization Informationfrom Household Electric Appliance

An example of an operation by which the server device 101 obtains theutilization information from the household electric appliance 2501 willbe described with reference to FIG. 27 .

FIG. 27 is a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which theserver device obtains utilization information from a household electricappliance for the first time according to Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention. Note that in Embodiment 3 of the present invention, theoperation by which the server device 101, which has utilizationinformation already stored therein, obtains utilization information fromthe household electric appliance 2501 is similar to that shown in FIGS.16 and 17 of Embodiment 1 and will not be described below.

First, the wireless tag detecting section 2601 of the household electricappliance 2501 detects the wireless tag 2502 existing within apredetermined detection range, and reads out information for identifyingthe consumer good (consumer goods identification information) from thedetected wireless tag 2502 (step S101). Note that the consumer goodsidentification information includes the product ID, for example. Where aplurality of wireless tags are existing in the vicinity of the householdelectric appliance 2501, the wireless tag detecting section 2601 readsout the consumer goods identification information from each of theplurality of wireless tags.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, the consumer goods identification information read out bythe wireless tag detecting section 2601, and the appliance informationstored in the appliance information storing section 305 (step S102).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives the consumer goods identification information and the applianceinformation transmitted by the household electric appliance 2501 (stepS103).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 extracts, from the consumergood information storing section 202, consumer good informationassociated with the received consumer goods identification information(product ID) (step S104). Note that the consumer good informationincludes the appliance category, the manufacturer name, the productcategory, the product ID, the product name and the volume. The consumergood information may also include an image of the consumer good.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to the householdelectric appliance 2501, the extracted consumer good information as aconsumer goods list (step S105). Note that where one wireless tag isdetected by the household electric appliance 2501, the consumer goodslist includes one piece of consumer good information, and where aplurality of wireless tags are detected by the household electricappliance 2501, the consumer goods list includes a plurality of piecesof consumer good information.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 of the household electricappliance 2501 receives the consumer goods list transmitted by theserver device 101 (step S106).

Then, the display section 302 displays the consumer goods list receivedby the transmitting/receiving section 301 (step S107). In this process,the display section 302 does not need to display all of the consumergood information, but may display only some of the consumer goodinformation (e.g., the product name) with which it is possible toidentify the consumer good. The display section 302 may also display animage of the consumer good. Thus, the user can more easily select theconsumer good being currently used.

Then, the input accepting section 304 accepts a user input (step S108).The input accepting section 304 accepts selection of a consumer goodbeing currently used by the user from the consumer goods list beingdisplayed. Where the input accepting section 304 is implemented by atouch panel, for example, the user touches the consumer good beingcurrently used by the user from the consumer goods list displayed on thedisplay section 302. Where the input accepting section 304 isimplemented by a button, for example, the user presses a button so as toselect the consumer good being currently used by the user from theconsumer goods list being displayed on the display section 302.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) accepted by the input accepting section 304 (step S109).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) transmitted by the household electric appliance 2501 (stepS110).

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the consumer good information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S111). In this process,utilization information associated with the consumer good identified bythe consumer good information received this time is not accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205. Therefore, theupdating section 207 newly stores, in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, utilization information in which the productID, the product name and the volume included in the consumer goodinformation are associated with the appliance ID. In this process, theupdating section 207 uses the date when the consumer good information isreceived from the household electric appliance 102 as the consumptionstart date, “0” as the amount of consumption, and “100%” as theestimated remaining amount value, to be included in the utilizationinformation.

Then, the utilization information obtaining section 303 of the householdelectric appliance 2501 obtains utilization information. Then, thetransmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the server device 101,the utilization information obtained by the utilization informationobtaining section 303. The transmitting/receiving section 201 of theserver device 101 receives the utilization information transmitted bythe household electric appliance 2501. Then, the updating section 207calculates the remaining amount of the consumer good based on theutilization information received by the transmitting/receiving section201. Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the utilization information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 and the remaining amount calculated.This and subsequent operations are similar to operations of step S26 andthereafter of FIG. 16 of Embodiment 1 and will not be described below.

Thus, from wireless tags provided on consumer goods, consumer goodsidentification information for identifying the consumer goods are readout, and only the consumer goods associated with the read-out consumergoods identification information are presented to the user. Therefore,the user can easily select a consumer good to be used from among theconsumer goods the user actually owns.

Embodiment 4

4.1 Configuration of Point-of-Use Information Obtaining System

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 4 of the presentinvention. The point-of-use information obtaining system according toEmbodiment 4 of the present invention includes the server device 101, ahousehold electric appliance 2801 and the information appliance 103, asshown in FIG. 28 .

The server device 101 stores a consumer goods list representing a listof consumer goods, and the server device 101 transmits a consumer goodslist in response to a request from the household electric appliance 2801and transmits a confirmation message for confirming the consumer goodbeing currently used to the information appliance 103. In addition, theserver device 101 receives, from the household electric appliance 2801,and accumulates information regarding the consumer good being currentlyused by the household electric appliance 2801.

A barcode is provided on a consumer good. For example, a barcode isprinted on or attached to the package of the consumer good. A barcodehas recorded therein information for identifying the consumer good onwhich it is provided. Note that while the present embodiment employs abarcode (one-dimensional code), the present invention is not limited tothis and may employ a two-dimensional code. Where a two-dimensional codeis employed, it is possible to record more information than a barcode.

From a barcode provided on a consumer good, the household electricappliance 2801 detects information regarding that consumer good (e.g.,the product ID, or the like), and transmits the detected informationregarding the consumer good to the server device 101. The householdelectric appliance 2801 receives the detected information regarding theconsumer good (e.g., the product image, or the like) from the serverdevice 101, and presents the received information regarding the consumergood to the user. The household electric appliance 2801 accepts a userconfirmation (user input) indicating whether or not the presentedinformation regarding the consumer good is correct, and transmits theaccepted user input to the server device 101.

The information appliance 103 receives a confirmation message from theserver device 101, presents the received confirmation message to theuser, and accepts an input of information regarding a consumer good bythe user. The information appliance 103 transmits the acceptedinformation regarding a consumer good to the server device 101.

4.2 Configuration of Household Electric Appliance 2801

Next, a detailed configuration of the household electric appliance 2801will be described.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a configuration of a household electricappliance according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. As shownin FIG. 29 , the household electric appliance 2801 includes thetransmitting/receiving section 301, the display section 302, theutilization information obtaining section 303, the input acceptingsection 304, the appliance information storing section 305, a barcodereading section 2901 and a control section 2902.

The household electric appliance 2801 is implemented by amicroprocessor, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and the like, which are notspecifically shown in the figure. The RAM, the ROM or the hard diskstores computer programs, and the functions of the household electricappliance 2801 are implemented by the microprocessor operating inaccordance with the computer programs.

Note that the functional blocks of the household electric appliance2801, such as the transmitting/receiving section 301, the displaysection 302, the utilization information obtaining section 303, theinput accepting section 304, the appliance information storing section305, the barcode reading section 2901 and the control section 2902, maybe implemented as LSIs which are typically integrated circuits. Thefunctional blocks may be individually provided in single chips, and asingle chip may include one or more functional block or a part of afunctional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as an IC, asystem LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI, depending on the degree ofintegration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ an FPGA which can be programmed after the LSI production, ora reconfigurable processor in which the connection or the setting ofcircuit cells inside the LSI can be reconfigured after the LSIproduction.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 301 to Appliance Information StoringSection 305

The configurations of the transmitting/receiving section 301, thedisplay section 302, the utilization information obtaining section 303,the input accepting section 304 and the appliance information storingsection 305 are similar to those of Embodiment 1 and will not bedescribed below.

(2) Barcode Reading Section 2901

The barcode reading section 2901 reads a barcode provided on a consumergood to obtain information regarding the consumer good (e.g.,information for identifying the consumer good, such as the product ID).The barcode reading section 2901 is implemented by a barcode scanner,for example. The barcode reading scheme may be a commonly-employedreading scheme, and will not be described herein. The obtainedinformation for identifying the consumer good, such as the product ID,is transmitted to the server device 101 by the transmitting/receivingsection 301.

(3) Control Section 2902

The control section 2902 implements the functions of the householdelectric appliance 2801 by managing and controlling thetransmitting/receiving section 301, the display section 302, theutilization information obtaining section 303, the input acceptingsection 304, the appliance information storing section 305 and thebarcode reading section 2901 described above.

4.3 Configuration of Server Device 101 and Information Appliance 103

The configurations of the server device 101 and the informationappliance 103 of Embodiment 4 are similar to those of Embodiment 1 andwill not be described below.

4.4 Operation by which Server Device Obtains Utilization Informationfrom Household Electric Appliance

An example of an operation by which the server device 101 obtains theutilization information from the household electric appliance 2801 willbe described with reference to FIG. 30 .

FIG. 30 is a flow chart showing an example of an operation by which theserver device obtains utilization information from a household electricappliance for the first time according to Embodiment 4 of the presentinvention. Note that in Embodiment 4 of the present invention, theoperation by which the server device 101, which has utilizationinformation already stored therein, obtains utilization information fromthe household electric appliance 2801 is similar to that shown in FIGS.16 and 17 of Embodiment 1 and will not be described below.

First, the barcode reading section 2901 of the household electricappliance 2801 reads the barcode provided on a consumer good to obtaininformation for identifying the consumer good (consumer goodsidentification information) (step S121). Note that the consumer goodsidentification information includes the product ID, for example. Where aplurality of barcodes provided on a plurality of consumer goods areread, the barcode reading section 2901 obtains a plurality of pieces ofconsumer goods identification information respectively associated withthe plurality of consumer goods.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, the consumer goods identification information obtained bythe barcode reading section 2901 and the appliance information stored inthe appliance information storing section 305 (step S122).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives the consumer goods identification information and the applianceinformation transmitted by the household electric appliance 2801 (stepS123).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 extracts, from the consumergood information storing section 202, consumer good informationassociated with the received consumer goods identification information(product ID) (step S124). Note that the consumer good informationincludes the appliance category, the manufacturer name, the productcategory, the product ID, the product name and the volume. The consumergood information may also include an image of the consumer good.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 transmits, to the householdelectric appliance 2801, the extracted consumer good information as aconsumer goods list (step S125). Note that where one barcode is read bythe household electric appliance 2801, the consumer goods list includesone piece of consumer good information, and where a plurality ofbarcodes are read by the household electric appliance 2801, the consumergoods list includes a plurality of pieces of consumer good information.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 of the household electricappliance 2801 receives the consumer goods list transmitted by theserver device 101 (step S126).

Then, the display section 302 displays the consumer goods list receivedby the transmitting/receiving section 301 (step S127). In this process,the display section 302 does not need to display all of the consumergood information, but may display only some of the consumer goodinformation (e.g., the product name) with which it is possible toidentify the consumer good. The display section 302 may also display animage of the consumer good. Thus, the user can more easily select theconsumer good being currently used.

Then, the input accepting section 304 accepts a user input (step S128).The input accepting section 304 accepts selection of a consumer goodbeing currently used by the user from the consumer goods list beingdisplayed. Where the input accepting section 304 is implemented by atouch panel, for example, the user touches the consumer good beingcurrently used by the user from the consumer goods list displayed on thedisplay section 302. Where the input accepting section 304 isimplemented by a button, for example, the user presses a button so as toselect the consumer good being currently used by the user from theconsumer goods list being displayed on the display section 302.

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the serverdevice 101, information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) accepted by the input accepting section 304 (step S129).

Then, the transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 101receives information regarding a consumer good (consumer goodinformation) transmitted by the household electric appliance 2801 (stepS130).

Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the consumer good information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 (step S131). In this process,utilization information associated with the consumer good identified bythe consumer good information received this time is not accumulated inthe utilization information accumulating section 205. Therefore, theupdating section 207 newly stores, in the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, utilization information in which the productID, the product name and the volume included in the consumer goodinformation are associated with the appliance ID. In this process, theupdating section 207 uses the date when the consumer good information isreceived from the household electric appliance 102 as the consumptionstart date, “0” as the amount of consumption, and “100%” as theestimated remaining amount value, to be included in the utilizationinformation.

Then, the utilization information obtaining section 303 of the householdelectric appliance 2801 obtains utilization information. Then, thetransmitting/receiving section 301 transmits, to the server device 101,the utilization information obtained by the utilization informationobtaining section 303. The transmitting/receiving section 201 of theserver device 101 receives the utilization information transmitted bythe household electric appliance 2801. Then, the updating section 207calculates the remaining amount of the consumer good based on theutilization information received by the transmitting/receiving section201. Then, the updating section 207 updates the utilization informationaccumulated in the utilization information accumulating section 205based on the utilization information received by thetransmitting/receiving section 201 and the remaining amount calculated.This and subsequent operations are similar to operations of step S26 andthereafter of FIG. 16 of Embodiment 1 and will not be described below.

Thus, by reading barcodes provided on consumer goods, consumer goodsidentification information for identifying the consumer goods areobtained, and only the consumer goods associated with the obtainedconsumer goods identification information are presented to the user.Therefore, the user can easily select a consumer good to be used fromamong the consumer goods the user actually owns.

Embodiment 5

5.1 Configuration of Point-of-Use Information Obtaining System

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point-of-useinformation obtaining system according to Embodiment 5 of the presentinvention. The point-of-use information obtaining system according toEmbodiment 5 of the present invention includes a server device 3101, thehousehold electric appliance 2801 and the information appliance 103, asshown in FIG. 31 .

The server device 3101 stores a consumption list representing a list ofconsumer goods, and the server device 3101 transmits a consumer goodslist in response to a request from the household electric appliance 2801and transmits a confirmation message for confirming the consumer goodbeing currently used to the information appliance 103. The server device3101 stores setting information regarding the operation of the householdelectric appliance 2801, which is set for the household electricappliance 2801 when operating the household electric appliance 2801using a consumer good, and transmits the setting information of thehousehold electric appliance 2801 in response to a request from thehousehold electric appliance 2801. In addition, the server device 3101receives, from the household electric appliance 2801, and accumulatesinformation regarding the consumer good being currently used by thehousehold electric appliance 2801.

A barcode is provided on a consumer good. For example, a barcode isprinted on or attached to the package of the consumer good. A barcodehas recorded therein information for identifying the consumer good onwhich it is provided.

From a barcode provided on a consumer good, the household electricappliance 2801 detects information regarding that consumer good (e.g.,the product ID, or the like), and transmits the detected informationregarding the consumer good to the server device 3101. The householdelectric appliance 2801 receives the detected information regarding theconsumer good (e.g., the product image, or the like) from the serverdevice 101, and presents the received information regarding the consumergood to the user. The household electric appliance 2801 accepts a userconfirmation (user input) indicating whether or not the presentedinformation regarding the consumer good is correct, and transmits theaccepted user input to the server device 3101.

The information appliance 103 receives a confirmation message from theserver device 3101, presents the received confirmation message to theuser, and accepts an input of information regarding a consumer good bythe user. The information appliance 103 transmits the acceptedinformation regarding a consumer good to the server device 3101.

5.2 Configuration of Server Device 3101

Next, a detailed configuration of the server device 3101 will bedescribed will be described.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a configuration of the server deviceaccording to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 32, the server device 3101 includes the transmitting/receiving section201, the consumer good information storing section 202, the notificationinformation storing section 203, the user information storing section204, the utilization information accumulating section 205, thedetermination section 206, the updating section 207, a settinginformation storing section 3201 and a control section 3202.

The server device 3101 is implemented by a microprocessor, a RAM, a ROM,a hard disk, and the like, which are not specifically shown in thefigure. The RAM, the ROM or the hard disk stores computer programs, andthe functions of the server device 3101 are implemented by themicroprocessor operating in accordance with the computer programs.

Note that the functional blocks of the server device 3101, such as thetransmitting/receiving section 201, the consumer good informationstoring section 202, the notification information storing section 203,the user information storing section 204, the utilization informationaccumulating section 205, the determination section 206, the updatingsection 207, the setting information storing section 3201 and thecontrol section 3202 may be implemented as LSIs which are typicallyintegrated circuits. The functional blocks may be individually providedin single chips, and a single chip may include one or more functionalblock or a part of a functional block.

Although it is described as an LSI, it may be referred to as an IC, asystem LSI, a super LSI or an ultra LSI, depending on the degree ofintegration.

The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but it may beimplemented by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Onemay employ an FPGA which can be programmed after the LSI production, ora reconfigurable processor in which the connection or the setting ofcircuit cells inside the LSI can be reconfigured after the LSIproduction.

Moreover, if a circuit integration technique that replaces LSI emergesbecause of the advancement of semiconductor technology or alternativetechnology deriving therefrom, functional blocks may of course beintegrated by using such technology. For example, a possible example ofa circuit integration technique replacing LSI may be an application ofbiotechnology, etc.

Finally, each functional block may be implemented by software or acombination of LSI and software. The software may be madetamper-resistant.

(1) Transmitting/Receiving Section 201 to Updating Section 207

The configurations of the transmitting/receiving section 201, theconsumer good information storing section 202, the notificationinformation storing section 203, the user information storing section204, the utilization information accumulating section 205, thedetermination section 206 and the updating section 207 are similar tothose of Embodiment 1 and will not be described below.

(2) Setting Information Storing Section 3201

The setting information storing section 3201 stores, for each consumergood, setting information regarding the operation of the householdelectric appliance, which is set for the household electric appliance.FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example of setting information accordingto Embodiment 5. The example of setting information of FIG. 33 includes,associated with one another, the manufacturer name of the manufacturerwho manufactured the consumer good, the product ID with which it ispossible to identify the consumer good, the product name representingthe name of the consumer good, the amount (the number of pieces or thevolume) of the consumer good to be used by the household electricappliance, and the setting information of the household electricappliance. The setting information shown in FIG. 33 represents anexample where the household electric appliance is a microwave oven, andconsumer goods are frozen foods. For example, where two pieces of afrozen food of which the manufacturer name is “Company K”, the productID is “5293”, and the product name is “GRU” are to be cooked by themicrowave oven, they need to be heated for 1 min and 30 sec at the powerof 500 W and 1 min and 20 sec at the power of 600 W.

When the household electric appliance 2801 reads a barcode provided onthe consumer good to obtain the consumer goods identificationinformation, the household electric appliance 2801 transmits theobtained consumer goods identification information to the server device3101.

The transmitting/receiving section 201 of the server device 3101extracts, from the setting information storing section 3201, settinginformation associated with the consumer goods identificationinformation (product ID) received from the household electric appliance2801, and transmits the extracted setting information to the householdelectric appliance 2801. The household electric appliance 2801 receivesthe setting information transmitted by the server device 3101, and thehousehold electric appliance 2801 is operated based on the receivedsetting information. This eliminates the need for setting the time onthe household electric appliance 2801 (microwave oven).

(3) Control Section 3202

The control section 3202 implements the functions of the server device3101 by managing and controlling the transmitting/receiving section 201,the consumer good information storing section 202, the notificationinformation storing section 203, the user information storing section204, the utilization information accumulating section 205, thedetermination section 206, the updating section 207 and the settinginformation storing section 3201 described above.

5.3 Configuration of Household Electric Appliance 2801 and InformationAppliance 103

The configurations of the household electric appliance 2801 and theinformation appliance 103 of Embodiment 5 are similar to those ofEmbodiment 1 and Embodiment 4 and will not be described below.

Note that when consumer good information is received in step S130 ofFIG. 30 , the server device 3101 may extract setting information storedin the setting information storing section 3201 based on the receivedconsumer good information.

Therefore, in Embodiment 5, when a household electric appliance isoperated using a consumer good, setting information, which is set forthe household electric appliance, is provided from the server device tothe household electric appliance, thereby eliminating the need for theuser to perform a setting operation on the household electric appliance,and thus improving the controllability of the household electricappliance.

(Variations)

Variations of the present invention will now be described.

(1) In Embodiments 1 to 5, the server device transmits a consumer goodslist to the household electric appliance and a confirmation message tothe information appliance, but the present invention is not limited tothis configuration. The server device may transmit a consumer goods listto the information appliance and a confirmation message to the householdelectric appliance. The server device may transmit both a consumer goodslist and a confirmation message to the household electric appliance. Theserver device may also transmit both a consumer goods list and aconfirmation message to the information appliance.

That is, the server device may transmit a confirmation message to ahousehold electric appliance that uses the consumer good, anotherhousehold electric appliance, which is not the household electricappliance that uses the consumer good, or an information appliance.

(2) In Embodiments 1 to 5, the confirmation message transmitted by theserver device includes a message presenting discount information such asa coupon or a message presenting a product sample, but the presentinvention is not limited to this configuration. The server device maytransmit household electric appliance control information associatedwith a consumer good. Note that where the household electric applianceis a washing machine, the household electric appliance controlinformation represents a new washing course, and where the householdelectric appliance is a microwave oven, it represents a new menu or anew function.

The server device may transmit information notifying of an associatedproduct associated with a consumer good or a consumer good used withanother household electric appliance. The server device may transmitinformation of a new product of a household electric appliance or aconsumer good. The server device may transmit information notifying ofwhen to next purchase the consumer good being currently used. The serverdevice may present only the discount information for the consumer goodbeing currently used.

The server device may present discount information for an unusedconsumer good belonging to the same product category as the consumergood being currently used. In this case, the server device may set ahigher discount rate for the unused consumer good, or suggest theavailability of a product sample of an unused consumer good belonging tothe same product category as the consumer good being currently used. Theserver device may analyze the user's tastes and preferences based on theutilization status of consumer goods so as to provide information on arecipe or how to use a household electric appliance as recommended basedon the analysis results.

Moreover, when the remaining amount of a consumer good is less than orequal to a predetermined set value, the server device may not onlynotify (or instead of notifying) of when to next purchase the consumergood, but also cooperate with the server device of an electroniccommerce (EC) website so as to automatically register the consumer good(in so-called a “shopping cart”) as a product to be purchased by theuser on the EC website. Alternatively, the server device of an ECwebsite may manage consumer goods of which the remaining amount is smallso as to make those consumer goods of which the remaining amount issmall more easily purchasable by the user.

(3) In Embodiment 1, the household electric appliance displays aconsumer goods list to accept a user input in order to identify theconsumer good being currently used, but the present invention is notlimited to this configuration. The information appliance may display aconsumer goods list and accept a user input. In this case, theinformation appliance may transmit the consumer good information inputby the user directly to the server device, or transmit the consumer goodinformation input by the user to the server device via the householdelectric appliance. The household electric appliance may display aconsumer goods list and accept a user input so as to transmit theconsumer good information input by the user to the server device via theinformation appliance.

(4) In Embodiments 1 to 5, where a consumer goods list is transmitted toa household electric appliance or an information appliance, the serverdevice may include a decision section for deciding whether it istransmitted to the household electric appliance or to the informationappliance depending on the number of items displayed. In this case, ifthe consumer goods list has a number of items displayed that is smallerthan a predetermined number, the server device transmits the consumergoods list to the household electric appliance, and if the consumergoods list has a number of items displayed that is greater than or equalto the predetermined number, the server device transmits the consumergoods list to the information appliance. Alternatively, the serverdevice may decide whether or not the household electric appliance isbeing currently operated, and the server device may transmit theconsumer goods list to the household electric appliance if the householdelectric appliance is being operated, and may transmit the consumergoods list to the information appliance if the household electricappliance is not being operated.

(5) In Embodiments 1 to 5, the timing at which the server devicetransmits a confirmation message to the household electric appliance orthe information appliance may be one of the first timing to the fourthtiming to be described below, or may be a timing obtained by combiningtogether two or more of the first timing to the fourth timing to bedescribed below.

The first timing is a timing when the remaining amount, which iscontrolled based on the interior volume and the amount of consumption ofthe consumer good (a laundry detergent, a frozen food, or the like),reaches, or becomes below, a predetermined set value.

The second timing is a timing that is determined in advance for eachproduct, for each product category, for each manufacturer, or for eachhousehold electric appliance. For example, it may be set in advance forProduct A that a confirmation message be transmitted after 30 days fromthe consumption start date, and it may be set in advance for Productcategory B that a confirmation message be transmitted after one weekfrom the consumption start date.

The third timing is a timing that is determined based on userinformation such as the family composition. For example, if the familycomposition includes 4 people and Product D is normally consumed in oneweek, the server device transmits a confirmation message after one weekfrom the consumption start date of Product D.

The fourth timing is a timing that is determined based on the cycle inwhich the consumer good is purchased by the user. For example, where auser purchases one unit of Product E per month, the server devicetransmits a confirmation message immediately before the purchase timingfor Product E.

(6) In Embodiment 2, where the server device provides a consumer goodslist based on the sales information and displays it on the householdelectric appliance, a consumer good of which the purchase date is closerto the current date may be displayed first, or a consumer good of whichthe purchase frequency (the number of times purchased) is higher may bedisplayed first. If a consumer good that the user has been using or theuser is about to start using is not included in the consumer goods listpresented by the server device based on the sales information, thehousehold electric appliance or the information appliance may accept auser input indicating that a consumer good of interest is not includedin the consumer goods list, and transmit the accepted user-inputinformation to the server device. In this case, when the user-inputinformation is received, the server device may extract the consumer goodinformation associated with the household electric appliance, andre-transmit the extracted consumer good information as a consumer goodslist.

An information appliance such as a smartphone may have sales informationstored therein. The information appliance may transmit the salesinformation directly to the household electric appliance. Theinformation appliance may transmit the sales information to thehousehold electric appliance via the server device. The informationappliance may transmit the sales information directly to the serverdevice. The information appliance may transmit the sales information tothe server device via the household electric appliance.

(7) In Embodiment 3, where the household electric appliance is a washingmachine or a microwave oven, the wireless tag detecting section maysearch for wireless tags in the vicinity thereof at a timing when thepower is turned ON, for example, and detect a consumer good having beenused up, a consumer good having been disposed of, or a change in thestock of a consumer good. Where the household electric appliance is arefrigerator, the wireless tag detecting section may search for wirelesstags in the vicinity thereof at a timing when the door is opened or at atiming when the door is closed, for example, and detect a consumer goodhaving been used up, a consumer good having been disposed of, or achange in the stock of a consumer good. The server device may store, asa consumption history, the timing at which the consumer good was used upor the period during which the consumer good was being used. The serverdevice may determine the timing at which to transmit a confirmationmessage depending on the consumption history. The server device maydetermine the timing at which to transmit a confirmation message basedon a combination between the timing determination method of Variation(5) described above and the consumption history.

(8) In Embodiments 1 to 5, the household electric appliance is notlimited to washing machines and microwave ovens, but it may be anyhousehold electric appliance as long as a consumer good is usedtherewith, e.g., a refrigerator, a dishwasher, a baking machine, a ricecooker, a coffee maker, a vacuum cleaner, a toilet (including a warmwater cleansing toilet seat), an electric toothbrush, or a shaver. Theconsumer good may be, for example, a detergent, a frozen food, flour,rice, coffee beans, paper bags, toilet paper, toothpaste, or shavingcream. Moreover, the information appliance may be any appliance as longas it includes a display section (display), e.g., a mobile telephone, asmartphone, a tablet device, a TV, a personal computer, a facsimilemachine, or a door monitor.

(9) In Embodiments 1 to 5, when the household electric appliance or theinformation appliance displays a consumer goods list and accepts a userinput, it may accept an input by the user of the remaining amount of theconsumer good. In this case, the household electric appliance or theinformation appliance may accept a user input including, for example,‘half-used’, ‘⅓ used’, ‘20% used’, ‘used 5 times’, or ‘unused’.

(10) In Embodiment 5, the household electric appliance reads a barcodeto identify the consumer good, and the server device extracts, from adatabase (setting information storing section), setting information forthe household electric appliance associated with the consumer good. Inaddition, the household electric appliance may accept an input by theuser of the amount of consumption of the consumer good to be used, andtransmit the accepted amount of consumption to the server device. Theamount of consumption of a consumer good is, for example, the number ofpieces or the volume of a frozen food to be cooked by a microwave oven.The server device may determine the setting information for thehousehold electric appliance based on the amount of consumption input bythe user and the consumer good identified by reading a barcode. Insteadof identifying the consumer good by reading a barcode, the householdelectric appliance may identify the consumer good from a wireless tag, auser input, or the user's purchase information (purchase history).

(11) The operation of reading a barcode or detecting a wireless tag inEmbodiments 3 to 5 may be performed by the household electric appliance,by the information appliance, or by a different appliance other than theinformation appliance or the household electric appliance with which theconsumer good is used. The appliances may transmit consumer goodsidentification information obtained by reading a barcode or consumergoods identification information read out from a wireless tag directlyto the server device or to the server device via another appliance.

That is, an information appliance different from the household electricappliance may obtain information for identifying the consumer good byreading a barcode. The server device may receive information foridentifying the consumer good obtained by the information appliance,directly from the information appliance. The server device may receiveinformation for identifying the consumer good obtained by theinformation appliance, via the household electric appliance. In thisprocess, the information appliance transmits, to the server device,information (appliance ID) for identifying the household electricappliance with which the consumer good is used, together with theinformation for identifying the consumer good.

An information appliance different from the household electric appliancemay read out information for identifying the consumer good from awireless tag. The server device may receive information for identifyingthe consumer good read out by the information appliance, directly fromthe information appliance. The server device may receive information foridentifying the consumer good read out by the information appliance, viathe household electric appliance. In this process, the informationappliance transmits, to the server device, information (appliance ID)for identifying the household electric appliance with which the consumergood is used, together with the information for identifying the consumergood.

(12) FIG. 34 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of apoint-of-use information obtaining system in which a household electricappliance manufacturer and a consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other so as to provide a coupon or a product sample. Note that inthe example shown in FIG. 34 , the household electric appliance is awashing machine, and the consumer good is a detergent. Preferably, inthe point-of-use information obtaining system, the household electricappliance manufacturer and the consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other to minimize the user's burden and provide a coupon or aproduct sample, thereby continuously obtaining the utilizationinformation.

A method by which the consumer good being used can be easily input maybe selecting form a consumer goods list obtained via the server device,obtaining an input by a barcode (obtaining directly from the householdelectric appliance or via the information appliance), obtaining an inputby a wireless tag (obtaining directly from the household electricappliance or via the information appliance), obtaining an input incooperation with an EC website (utilizing purchase information bydisplaying a list of consumer goods purchased in the past), or obtainingan input in cooperation with point-of-sales information (POSinformation) (obtaining sales information from a retailer).

Moreover, as a method of issuing a coupon or giving points, the serverdevice may issue a coupon (displaying a coupon on an LCD screen) when awashing machine is operated, or may automatically transfer a coupon toan information appliance such as a personal computer or a smartphone(e.g., transmission via email, or transfer via near field communication(NFC)). If the same consumer good has been used many times, the serverdevice may transmit a coupon of that consumer good or a coupon ofanother product competing with that consumer good (e.g., transmissionvia email, or transfer via NFC). The server device may present, to theuser, the provision of a product sample of a newly-released consumergood or the provision of a product sample of a product competing withthe consumer good being currently used. When a new consumer good isreleased, the server device may transmit a coupon for the new product(e.g., transmission via email, or transfer via NFC), or may present, tothe user, the provision of a product sample of the new product.

Moreover, as a method for cooperating with an EC website, the serverdevice may transmit a recommended consumer good to a household electricappliance or an information appliance (e.g., transmission via email, ortransfer via NFC) if the same consumer good has been used many times. Ifthe same consumer good has been used many times, the server device mayautomatically input that consumer good in the ‘Recommended’ section ofthe EC website frequently used by the user, or may arrange so that theuser can immediately purchase that consumer good when visiting the ECwebsite.

(13) FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating a method for connecting togethera household electric appliance and a server device. Note that in theexample of FIG. 35 , the household electric appliance is a washingmachine. As shown in FIG. 35 , the household electric appliance mayconnect directly to the server device by using a mobile telephonenetwork, or the like, may connect to the server device via an in-homewireless router (router), or may connect to the server device via anin-home home gateway and wireless router (router).

The point-of-use information (utilization information) may be input byusing a large screen of the household electric appliance (washingmachine), may be input by using a small screen of the household electricappliance (washing machine) (including cases where the input is made byusing a wireless tag or by using a barcode), or may be input by using acombination of a screen of the household electric appliance (washingmachine) and an information appliance (including cases where the inputis made by using a wireless tag, by using a barcode, by using NFCtransfer, or by transferring to the washing machine via the serverdevice).

(14) FIG. 36 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of apoint-of-use information obtaining system in which a household electricappliance manufacturer and a consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other so as to provide a coupon or a product sample. Note that inthe example shown in FIG. 36 , the household electric appliance is amicrowave oven, and the consumer good is a frozen food. Preferably, inthe point-of-use information obtaining system, the household electricappliance manufacturer and the consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other to minimize the user's burden and provide a coupon or aproduct sample, thereby continuously obtaining the utilizationinformation.

A method by which the consumer good being used can be easily input maybe selecting form a consumer goods list obtained via the server device,obtaining an input by a barcode (obtaining directly from the householdelectric appliance or via the information appliance), obtaining an inputby a wireless tag (obtaining directly from the household electricappliance or via the information appliance), obtaining an input incooperation with an EC website (utilizing purchase information bydisplaying a list of consumer goods purchased in the past), or obtainingan input in cooperation with point-of-sales information (POSinformation) (obtaining sales information from a retailer).

Moreover, as a method of issuing a coupon or giving points, the serverdevice may issue a coupon (displaying a coupon on an LCD screen) when amicrowave oven is operated, or may automatically transfer a coupon to aninformation appliance such as a personal computer or a smartphone (e.g.,transmission via email, or transfer via NFC). If the same consumer goodhas been used many times, the server device may transmit a coupon ofthat consumer good or a coupon of another product competing with thatconsumer good (e.g., transmission via email, or transfer via NFC). Theserver device may present, to the user, the provision of a productsample of a newly-released consumer good or the provision of a productsample of a product competing with the consumer good being currentlyused. When a new consumer good is released, the server device maytransmit a coupon for the new product (e.g., transmission via email, ortransfer via NFC), or may present, to the user, the provision of aproduct sample of the new product.

Moreover, as a method for cooperating with an EC website, the serverdevice may transmit a recommended consumer good to a household electricappliance or an information appliance (e.g., transmission via email, ortransfer via NFC) if the same consumer good has been used many times. Ifthe same consumer good has been used many times, the server device mayautomatically input that consumer good in the ‘Recommended’ section ofthe EC website frequently used by the user, or may arrange so that theuser can immediately purchase that consumer good when visiting the ECwebsite.

(15) FIG. 37 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of apoint-of-use information obtaining system in which a household electricappliance manufacturer and a consumer good manufacturer cooperate witheach other so as to provide setting information for a household electricappliance. Note that in the example shown in FIG. 37 , the householdelectric appliance is a microwave oven, and the consumer good is afrozen food. As shown in FIG. 37 , the server device stores, in asetting information database, setting information (parameters such asthe wattage or the irradiation time) for household electric appliances(a microwave oven in this case). Now, the setting information isprovided by the manufacturer of the consumer good (a frozen food in thiscase), or provided by the user voluntarily making an input.

The microwave oven may include a barcode reader, and may obtain settinginformation by making an inquiry to the setting information database ofthe server device using barcode information read by the barcode reader.The microwave oven may include an NFC function, and may obtain barcodeinformation read by an information appliance such as a smartphone byusing the NFC function so as to obtain setting information by making aninquiry to the setting information database of the server device usingthe obtained barcode information.

The information appliance such as a smartphone may include a barcodereader, and may obtain setting information by making an inquiry to thesetting information database of the server device using the barcodeinformation read by the barcode reader, and the microwave oven mayinclude an NFC function, and may obtain the setting information, whichhas been obtained by the information appliance, from the informationappliance by using the NFC function.

The microwave oven may include an infrared (IR) communication function,and may obtain barcode information read by the information appliancesuch as a smartphone by using the IR communication function so as toobtain setting information by making an inquiry to the settinginformation database of the server device using the obtained barcodeinformation.

The information appliance such as a smartphone may include a barcodereader, and may obtain setting information by making an inquiry to thesetting information database of the server device using the barcodeinformation read by the barcode reader, and the microwave oven mayinclude an IR communication function, and may obtain settinginformation, which has been obtained by the information appliance, fromthe information appliance using the IR communication function.

(16) In the embodiments described above, a single device has a pluralityof functions (components), but the present invention is not limited tothis configuration. A plurality of functions (components) may bedistributed among a plurality of devices, and effects or functionssimilar to those of the present embodiment may be implemented bycombination thereof.

(17) Some or all of the components of devices described above may beimplemented by IC cards or single-unit modules that can beinserted/removed into/from the devices. An IC card or a module is acomputer system implemented by a microprocessor, a ROM, a RAM, etc. AnIC card or a module may include a super multi-function LSI describedabove. The IC card or module achieves its function as the microprocessoroperates in accordance with computer programs. The IC card or module maybe tamper-resistant.

(18) The present invention may be any of the methods described above.The present invention may also be a computer program that implementsthese methods by using a computer, or a digital signal of a computerprogram.

The present invention may also be a computer-readable storage mediumstoring a computer program or a digital signal. The computer-readablestorage medium may be, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, aCD-ROM, an MO, a DVD, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a Blu-ray (registeredtrademark) Disc (BD), a semiconductor memory, etc. The present inventionmay be a digital signal stored in these storage media.

The present invention may be a computer program or a digital signalbeing transferred via a network such as a telecommunication network, awireless communication network, a wired communication network and theInternet, or data broadcasting, etc.

The present invention my be a computer system including a microprocessorand a memory, wherein the memory may store the computer program, and themicroprocessor may operate in accordance with computer programs.

A computer program or a digital signal may be carried out by anotherindependent computer system by recording it on a computer-readablestorage medium and transferring it to the independent computer system. Acomputer program or a digital signal may be carried out by anotherindependent computer system by transferring it to the independentcomputer system via a network, or the like.

(19) Embodiments 1 to 5 described above and Variations (1) to (18)described above may be combined together.

Note that the specific embodiments described above primarily include aninvention configured as follows.

An information obtaining method according to one aspect of the presentinvention includes: receiving information regarding a consumer goodwhich has been determined as a consumer good actually used by a userwith a household electric appliance; storing, in a first memory section,a consumption status of the consumer good which has been determined as aconsumer good actually used by the user, based on the receivedinformation regarding the consumer good; receiving, from the householdelectric appliance, an identifier for identifying the household electricappliance and an operation status of the household electric appliance;estimating the consumption status of the consumer good using thereceived operation status; updating the consumption status of theconsumer good stored in the first memory section based on the estimatedconsumption status of the consumer good; deciding whether or not totransmit a confirmation message for confirming the consumer good beingused with the household electric appliance, based on the updatedconsumption status of the consumer good; and transmitting theconfirmation message when it is decided that the confirmation message isto be transmitted.

With this configuration, information regarding a consumer good which hasbeen determined as a consumer good actually used by the user with ahousehold electric appliance is received, and based on the receivedinformation regarding a consumer good, the consumption status of theconsumer good which has been determined as a consumer good actually usedby the user is stored in the first memory section. An identifier foridentifying the household electric appliance and an operation status ofthe household electric appliance are received from the householdelectric appliance. The consumption status of the consumer good isestimated using the received operation status. The consumption status ofthe consumer good stored in the first memory section is updated based onthe estimated consumption status of the consumer good. It is decidedwhether or not to transmit a confirmation message for confirming theconsumer good being used with the household electric appliance, based onthe updated consumption status of the consumer good. Then, theconfirmation message is transmitted when it is decided that theconfirmation message is to be transmitted.

Thus, the consumption status of a consumer good is estimated by usingthe received operation status; a confirmation message is transmitted ata timing when a decision is made based on the estimated consumptionstatus of the consumer good; and information regarding a consumer goodwhich has been determined as a consumer good actually used by the useris received as a response to the confirmation message. Therefore, it ispossible to appropriately identify a consumer good which the user useswith a household electric appliance.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat a quantity of the consumer good at a start of consumption isdetermined in advance.

With this configuration, since the quantity of the consumer good at thestart of consumption is determined in advance, it is possible to easilymanage the amount of consumption and the remaining amount of theconsumer good.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the first memory section stores a remaining amount of the consumergood, and the method further includes: estimating, as the consumptionstatus, the remaining amount of the consumer good using the receivedoperation status; updating the remaining amount of the consumer goodstored in the first memory section, based on the estimated remainingamount of the consumer good; deciding whether or not the updatedremaining amount of the consumer good is less than or equal to apredetermined value; and transmitting a confirmation message forconfirming the consumer good being used when it is decided that theupdated remaining amount of the consumer good is less than or equal tothe predetermined value.

With this configuration, the remaining amount of the consumer good isestimated as the consumption status using the received operation status,and the remaining amount of the consumer good stored in the first memorysection is updated based on the estimated remaining amount of theconsumer good. It is decided whether or not the updated remaining amountof the consumer good is less than or equal to a predetermined value, andwhen it is decided that the updated remaining amount of the consumergood is less than or equal to the predetermined value, a confirmationmessage for confirming the consumer good being used is transmitted.

Thus, the remaining amount of the consumer good is estimated, and aconfirmation message for confirming the consumer good being used istransmitted if the remaining amount of the consumer good is less than orequal to a predetermined value. Therefore, it is possible to identify aconsumer good to be used next when the consumer good is running out.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the method further includes: storing the information regarding aconsumer good in the second memory section in advance while theinformation is associated with a type of the household electricappliance; receiving, from the household electric appliance, a requestfor the information regarding a consumer good and an identifier foridentifying the household electric appliance; extracting, from thesecond memory section, information regarding a consumer good which canbe used with the household electric appliance associated with theidentifier; and transmitting the extracted information regarding theconsumer good.

With this configuration, information regarding a consumer good is storedin advance in the second memory section while the information isassociated with a type of the household electric appliance. A requestfor the information regarding a consumer good and an identifier foridentifying the household electric appliance are received from thehousehold electric appliance. The information regarding a consumer goodwhich can be used with the household electric appliance associated withthe identifier is extracted from the second memory section, and theextracted information regarding a consumer good is transmitted.

Thus, information regarding a consumer good which can be used with thehousehold electric appliance is transmitted, and information regarding aconsumer good which has been determined as a consumer good actually usedby the user is received. Therefore, it is possible to appropriatelyidentify a consumer good which the user uses with a household electricappliance.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the second memory section stores information regarding a pluralityof consumer goods, and the method further includes: extracting, from thesecond memory section, information regarding a plurality of consumergoods which can be used with the household electric appliance associatedwith the identifier; transmitting the extracted information regardingthe plurality of consumer goods as a consumer goods list; and receivingthe information regarding the consumer good which has been determined asa consumer good actually used by the user, from among the consumer goodslist.

With this configuration, information regarding a plurality of consumergoods are stored in the second memory section; the information regardinga plurality of consumer goods which can be used with the householdelectric appliance associated with the identifier are extracted from thesecond memory section; and the extracted information regarding theplurality of consumer goods are transmitted as a consumer goods list.Then, the information regarding the consumer good which has beendetermined as a consumer good actually used by the user, from among theconsumer goods list.

Thus, since information regarding a plurality of consumer goods aretransmitted as a consumer goods list, the user can easily select aconsumer good to be actually used from among the consumer goods list.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the method further includes: selecting a consumer good which hasbeen sold to the user based on sales information in which informationfor identifying the consumer good which has been sold to the user isassociated with a type of a household electric appliance with which theconsumer good is used; and extracting the information regarding theselected consumer good from the second memory section.

With this configuration, a consumer good which has been sold to the useris selected based on sales information in which information foridentifying the consumer good which has been sold to the user isassociated with a type of a household electric appliance with which theconsumer good is used; and the information regarding the selectedconsumer good is extracted from the second memory section.

Thus, since only information regarding consumer goods which the user hasactually purchased are extracted and transmitted, the user can easilyidentify a consumer good to be used.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the method further includes: obtaining information for identifyingthe consumer good by reading a barcode provided on the consumer good;receiving the obtained information for identifying the consumer good;and extracting, from the second memory section, the informationregarding the consumer good on which the barcode is provided, based onthe received information regarding the consumer good.

With this configuration, information for identifying the consumer goodis obtained by reading a barcode provided on the consumer good. Theobtained information for identifying the consumer good is received, andthe information regarding the consumer good on which the barcode isprovided is extracted from the second memory section based on thereceived information regarding the consumer good.

Thus, information for identifying the consumer good is obtained byreading a barcode provided on the consumer good, and only consumer goodsassociated with obtained information for identifying consumer goods arepresented to the user. Therefore, the user can easily select a consumergood to be used from among the consumer goods the user actually owns.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the method further includes: obtaining information for identifyingthe consumer good by reading the barcode by means of an informationappliance different from the household electric appliance; and receivingthe information for identifying the consumer good, which has beenobtained by the information appliance, directly from the informationappliance, or receiving the information for identifying the consumergood, which has been obtained by the information appliance, via thehousehold electric appliance.

With this configuration, information for identifying the consumer goodis obtained by reading the barcode by means of an information appliancedifferent from the household electric appliance. The information foridentifying the consumer good, which has been obtained by theinformation appliance, is received directly from the informationappliance. Alternatively, the information for identifying the consumergood, which has been obtained by the information appliance, is receivedvia the household electric appliance.

Thus, even if a household electric appliance does not have a function ofreading a barcode, information for identifying a consumer good can beobtained by means of an information appliance different from thehousehold electric appliance.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the method further includes: reading out information foridentifying the consumer good from a wireless tag provided on theconsumer good; receiving the information for identifying the consumergood read out from the wireless tag; and extracting, from the secondmemory section, the information regarding the consumer good on which thewireless tag is provided, based on the received information foridentifying the consumer good.

With this configuration, information for identifying the consumer goodis read out from a wireless tag provided on the consumer good, and theinformation for identifying the consumer good read out from the wirelesstag is received. The information regarding the consumer good on whichthe wireless tag is provided is extracted from the second memory sectionbased on the received information for identifying the consumer good.

Thus, information for identifying a consumer good is read out from awireless tag provided on the consumer good, and only consumer goodsassociated with the read-out information for identifying the consumergood are presented to the user. Therefore, the user can easily select aconsumer good to be used from among the consumer goods the user actuallyowns.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the method further includes: reading out information foridentifying the consumer good from the wireless tag by means of aninformation appliance different from the household electric appliance;and receiving the information for identifying the consumer good, whichhas been read out by the information appliance, directly from theinformation appliance, or receiving the information for identifying theconsumer good, which has been read out by the information appliance, viathe household electric appliance.

With this configuration, information for identifying the consumer goodis read out from the wireless tag by means of an information appliancedifferent from the household electric appliance. The information foridentifying the consumer good, which has been read out by theinformation appliance, is received directly from the informationappliance. Alternatively, the information for identifying the consumergood, which has been read out by the information appliance, is receivedvia the household electric appliance.

Thus, even if a household electric appliance does not have a function ofdetecting a wireless tag, information for identifying a consumer goodcan be obtained by means of an information appliance different from thehousehold electric appliance.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the first memory section stores an amount of consumption of theconsumer good, and the method further includes: receiving the amount ofconsumption of the consumer good which is measured by the householdelectric appliance; and updating the consumption status of the consumergood stored in the first memory section, based on the received amount ofconsumption of the consumer good.

With this configuration, the amount of consumption of the consumer goodwhich is measured by the household electric appliance is received, andthe consumption status of the consumer good stored in the first memorysection is updated based on the received amount of consumption of theconsumer good. Therefore, it is possible to accurately manage the amountof consumption of the consumer good.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the operation status includes setting information regarding anoperation of the household electric appliance which is set by the userfor the household electric appliance when operating the householdelectric appliance, and the method further includes: calculating theamount of consumption of the consumer good from the setting informationby using a parameter determined in advance according to the operation.

With this configuration, the operation status includes settinginformation regarding an operation of the household electric appliancewhich is set by the user for the household electric appliance whenoperating the household electric appliance. Then, the amount ofconsumption of the consumer good is calculated from the settinginformation by using a parameter determined in advance according to theoperation.

Thus, the amount of consumption of the consumer good is calculated fromsetting information regarding an operation of a household electricappliance which is set by the user for the household electric appliancewhen operating the household electric appliance by using a parameterdetermined in advance according to the operation of the householdelectric appliance. Therefore, there is no need for a sensor formeasuring the amount of consumption of the consumer good, and the userdoes not need to input the amount of consumption of the consumer good,making it possible to calculate the amount of consumption of theconsumer good only by obtaining the setting information of the householdelectric appliance.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the method further includes: storing, in a third memory section,setting information regarding an operation of the household electricappliance which is set for the household electric appliance whenoperating the household electric appliance using the consumer good;extracting the setting information stored in the third memory sectionbased on the received information regarding a consumer good; andtransmitting the extracted setting information to the household electricappliance.

With this configuration, setting information regarding an operation ofthe household electric appliance which is set for the household electricappliance when operating the household electric appliance using theconsumer good is stored in a third memory section. The settinginformation stored in the third memory section is extracted based on thereceived information regarding a consumer good, and the extractedsetting information is transmitted to the household electric appliance.

Thus, since setting information of a household electric appliancedepending on a consumer good to be used is transmitted to the householdelectric appliance, the user can operate the household electricappliance using the consumer good without having to input the settinginformation.

In the information obtaining method described above, it is preferredthat the confirmation message is transmitted to the household electricappliance with which the consumer good is used, another householdelectric appliance different from the household electric appliance withwhich the consumer good is used, or an information appliance.

With this configuration, the confirmation message is notified to theuser by means of the household electric appliance with which theconsumer good is used, another household electric appliance differentfrom the household electric appliance with which the consumer good isused, or an information appliance.

An information obtaining system according to another aspect of thepresent invention is an information obtaining system including a serverdevice and a household electric appliance communicatively connected tothe server device, the server device including: a first receivingsection for receiving information regarding a consumer good which hasbeen determined as a consumer good actually used by a user; a firstmemory section for storing a consumption status of a consumer good; amemory control section for storing, in the first memory section, aconsumption status of the consumer good which has been determined as aconsumer good actually used by the user, based on the receivedinformation regarding the consumer good; a second receiving section forreceiving, from the household electric appliance, an identifier foridentifying the household electric appliance and an operation status ofthe household electric appliance; an estimating section for estimatingthe consumption status of the consumer good using the received operationstatus; an updating section for updating the consumption status of theconsumer good stored in the first memory section based on the estimatedconsumption status of the consumer good; a decision section for decidingwhether or not to transmit a confirmation message for confirming theconsumer good being used, based on the updated consumption status of theconsumer good; and a transmitting section for transmitting theconfirmation message when it is decided that the confirmation message isto be transmitted, the household electric appliance including: a firsttransmitting section for transmitting, to the server device, a requestfor the information regarding a consumer good and an identifier foridentifying the household electric appliance; a first receiving sectionfor receiving the information regarding a consumer good transmitted bythe server device; a second transmitting section for transmitting, tothe server device, the information regarding a consumer good which hasbeen determined as a consumer good actually used by the user; and athird transmitting section for transmitting, to the server device, theidentifier for identifying the household electric appliance and theoperation status of the household electric appliance.

With this configuration, a first receiving section of a server devicereceives information regarding a consumer good which has been determinedas a consumer good actually used by a user. A first memory sectionstores a consumption status of a consumer good. A memory control sectionstores, in the first memory section, a consumption status of theconsumer good which has been determined as a consumer good actually usedby the user, based on the received information regarding the consumergood. A second receiving section receives, from the household electricappliance, an identifier for identifying the household electricappliance and an operation status of the household electric appliance.An estimating section estimates the consumption status of the consumergood using the received operation status. An updating section updatesthe consumption status of the consumer good stored in the first memorysection based on the estimated consumption status of the consumer good.A decision section decides whether or not to transmit a confirmationmessage for confirming the consumer good being used, based on theupdated consumption status of the consumer good. A transmitting sectiontransmits the confirmation message when it is decided that theconfirmation message is to be transmitted. A first transmitting sectionof the household electric appliance transmits, to the server device, arequest for the information regarding a consumer good and an identifierfor identifying the household electric appliance. A first receivingsection receives the information regarding a consumer good transmittedby the server device. A second transmitting section transmits, to theserver device, the information regarding a consumer good which has beendetermined as a consumer good actually used by the user. A thirdtransmitting section transmits, to the server device, the identifier foridentifying the household electric appliance and the operation status ofthe household electric appliance.

Thus, the consumption status of a consumer good is estimated by usingthe received operation status; a confirmation message is transmitted ata timing when a decision is made based on the estimated consumptionstatus of the consumer good; and information regarding a consumer goodwhich has been determined as a consumer good actually used by the useris received as a response to the confirmation message. Therefore, it ispossible to appropriately identify a consumer good which the user useswith a household electric appliance.

An information appliance according to another aspect of the presentinvention an information appliance communicatively connected to a serverdevice, the information appliance including: a receiving section forreceiving a confirmation message for confirming a consumer good beingused, the confirmation message having been decided by the server deviceto be transmitted based on a consumption status of a consumer good to beused with a household electric appliance, the consumption status havingbeen estimated by using an operation status of the household electricappliance; a display section for displaying the received confirmationmessage; an accepting section for accepting, from a user, an input ofresponse information for the confirmation message; and a transmittingsection for transmitting, to the server device, the response informationaccepted by the accepting section.

With this configuration, a receiving section of the informationappliance receives a confirmation message for confirming a consumer goodbeing used, the confirmation message having been decided by the serverdevice to be transmitted based on a consumption status of a consumergood to be used with a household electric appliance, the consumptionstatus having been estimated by using an operation status of thehousehold electric appliance. A display section displays the receivedconfirmation message. An accepting section for accepting, from a user,an input of response information for the confirmation message. Atransmitting section transmits, to the server device, the responseinformation accepted by the accepting section.

Thus, the consumption status of the consumer good is estimated by usingthe received operation status, and the stored consumption status of theconsumer good is updated based on the estimated consumption statusconsumer good. Therefore, it is possible to easily manage theconsumption status of consumer goods without the user having to inputthe consumption status of the consumer goods.

Note that the particular embodiments and examples set forth in theDescription of Embodiments section are merely to elucidate the technicaldetails of the present invention, and the present invention should notbe narrowly interpreted to be limited to such specific examples, butvarious changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit ofthe present invention and the scope of the claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The information obtaining method, the information obtaining system andthe information appliance of the present invention make it possible toappropriately identify a consumer good which a user uses with ahousehold electric appliance, and they are applicable as an informationobtaining method, an information obtaining system and an informationappliance for obtaining information at the point in time when the useruses the household electric appliance.

1-16. (canceled)
 17. An information obtaining method comprising:receiving information regarding a consumer good used by a user with ahousehold electric appliance; obtaining a remaining amount of theconsumer good used by the user using information received from a sensor;deciding whether or not the remaining amount of the consumer good usedby the user is less than or equal to a predetermined amount; and whenthe remaining amount of the consumer good used by the user is decided tobe less than or equal to the predetermined amount, (i) generatinghousehold electric appliance control information, (ii) transmitting amessage including the household electric appliance control information,and (iii) operating the household electric appliance according to thehousehold electric appliance control information.
 18. The informationobtaining method according to claim 17, wherein the household electricappliance control information represents a new washing course when thehousehold electric appliance is a washing machine.
 19. The informationobtaining method according to claim 17, wherein the household electricappliance control information represents a new menu or a new functionwhen the household electric appliance is a microwave oven.
 20. Theinformation obtaining method according to claim 17, wherein a quantityof the consumer good used by the user at a start of consumption isdetermined in advance.
 21. An information obtaining system comprising: aserver device; and a household electric appliance communicativelyconnected to the server device, wherein the server device includes: areceiving section for receiving information regarding a consumer goodused by a user with the household electric appliance; an obtainingsection for obtaining a remaining amount of the consumer good used bythe user using information received from a sensor; a decision sectionfor deciding whether or not the remaining amount of the consumer goodused by the user is less than or equal to a predetermined amount; agenerating section for, when the remaining amount of the consumer goodused by the user is decided to be less than or equal to thepredetermined amount, generating household electric appliance controlinformation; and a transmitting section for transmitting a messageincluding the household electric appliance control information, andwherein the household electric appliance is operated according to thehousehold electric appliance control information.